Legends of Maui - a demi-god of Polynesia, and of his mother Hina

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LEGENDS OF

MAUI— A DEMI-GOD

OF POLYNESIA

AND OF

HIS MOTHER HINA.

BY

W. D. WESTERVELT.

AUSTRALASIAN EDITION:

GEORGE ROBERTSON & COMPANY
PROPY.

MELBOURNE, SYDNEY, ADELAIDE, BRISBANE,

AND LONDON.

CONTENTS

Page

Preface v.

Foreword xi.

Chap. I. Maui 's Home 3

II. Maui the Fisherman 12

III. Maui Lifting the Sky 31

IV. Maui Snaring the Sun 40

V. Maui Finding Fire 56

VI. Maui the Skilful 78

VII. Maui and Tuna 91

VIII. Maui and His Brother-in-Law 101

IX. Maui's Kite-Flying 112

X. Oahu Legends of Maui 119

XI. Maui Seeking Immortality 128

XII. Hina of Hilo 139

XIII. Hina and the Wailuku River 146

XIV. The Ghosts of the Hilo Hills 155

XV. Hina, the Woman in the Moon 165

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

All the Illustrations in this book are Hawaiian, and, excepting the
frontispiece, were snapshots made by the author.

Opposite
Page

Frontispiece — Haleakala Crater

' ' Bugged Lava of Wailuku Kiver " 7

Leaping to Swim to Coral Eeef s 12

Sea of Sacred Caves 14

Spearing Fish 21

Here are the Canoes 29

lao Mountain from the Sea 43

Haleakala 53

Hawaiian Vines and Bushes 74

Bathing Pool 84

Coco-nut Grove 96

Boiling Pots — Wailuku Eiver 100

Outside were other Worlds 107

Hilo Coast — Home of the Winds 115

Bay of Waipio Valley 121

The le-ie Vine 125

Eainbow Falls 147

Wailuku Kiver — The Home of Kuna 151

On Lava Beds 163

HELPS TO PRONUNCIATION.

There are three simple rules which practically control
Hawaiian pronunciation: (1) Give each vowel the German
sound. (2) Pronounce each vowel. (3) Never allow a
consonant to close a syllable.

Interchangeable consonants are many. The following are
the most common: h— s ; l=r ; k=t ; n=ng ; v=w.

PREFACE

Maui is a demi-god whose name should probably be
pronounced Ma-u-i-, i. e., Ma-oo-e. The meaning of the
words is by no means clear. It may mean ' ' to live, " " to
subsist. ' ' It may refer to beauty and strength, or it may
have the idea of "the left hand" or "turning aside."
The word is recognized as belonging to remote Poly-
nesian antiquity.

MacDonald, a writer of the New Hebrides Islands
gives the derivation of the name Maui primarily from
the Arabic word, "Mohyi," which means "causing to
live " or " life, ' ' applied sometimes to the gods and some-
times to chiefs as "preservers and sustainers" of their
followers.

The Maui story probably contains a larger number of
unique and ancient myths than that of any other legend-
ary character in the mythology of any nation.

There are three centers for these legends, New Zea-
land in the south, Hawaii in the north, and the Tahitian
group including the Hervey Islands in the east. In each
of these groups of islands, separated by thousands of
miles, there are the same legends, told in almost the same
way, and with very little variation in names. The inter-
mediate groups of islands of even as great importance as
Tonga, Fiji or Samoa, possess the same legends in more
or less of a fragmentary condition, as if the three centers
had been settled first when the Polynesians were driven
away from the Asiatic coasts by their enemies, the
Malays. From these centers voyagers sailing away in
search of adventures would carry fragments rather than
complete legends. This is exactly what has been done

vi. MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

and there are as a result a large number of hints of
wonderful deeds. The really long legends as told about
the demi-god Ma-u-i and his mother Hina number about
twenty.

It is remarkable that these legends have kept their
individuality. The Polynesians are not a very clannish
people. For some centuries they have not been in the
habit of frequently visiting each other. They have had
no written language, and picture writing of any kind is
exceedingly rare throughout Polynesian and yet in physi-
cal traits, national customs, domestic habits, and lan-
guage, as well as in traditions and myths, the different
inhabitants of the islands of Polynesia are as near of kin
as the cousins of the United States and Great Britain.

The Maui legends form one of the strongest links in
the mythological chain of evidence which binds the scat-
tered inhabitants of the Pacific into one nation. An in-
complete list aids in making clear the fact that groups
of islands hundreds and even thousands of miles apart
have been peopled centuries past by the same organic
race. Either complete or fragmentary Maui legends are
found in the single islands and island groups of Anei-
tyum, Bowditch or Fakaofa, Efate, Fiji, Fotuna, Gilbert,
Hawaii, Hervey, Huahine, Mangaia, Manihiki, Mar-
quesas, Marshall, Nauru, New Hebrides, New Zealand,
Samoa, Savage, Tahiti or Society, Tauna, Tokelau and
Tonga.

S. Percv Smith of New Zealand in his book Hawaiki
mentions a legend according to which Mani made a
voyage after overcoming a sea monster, visiting the Ton-
gas, the Tahitian group, Vai-i or Hawaii, and the Pau-
motu Islands. Then Maui went on to U-peru, which
Mr. Smith says "may be Peru." It was said that Maui

PREFACE. vii.

named some of the islands of the Hawaiian group, call-
ing the island Maui "Maui-ui in remembrance of his
efforts in lifting up the heavens," Hawaii was named
Vai-i, and Lanai was called Ngangai — as if Maui had
found the three most southerly islands of the group.

The Maui legends possess remarkable antiquity. Of
course, it is impossible to give any definite historical date,
but there can scarcely be any question of their origin
among the ancestors of the Polynesians before they scat-
tered over the Pacific ocean. They belong to the pre-
historic Polynesians. The New Zealanders claim Maui
as an ancestor of their most ancient tribes and some-
times class him among the most ancient of their gods,
calling him "creator of land" and "creator of man."
Tregear, in a paper before the New Zealand Institute,
said that Maui was sometimes thought to be "the sun
himself," "the solar fire," "the sun god," while his
mother Hina was called ' ' the moon goddess. ' ' The noted
greenstone god of the Maoris of New Zealand, Potiki,
may well be considered a representation of Maui-Tiki-
Tiki, who was sometimes called Maui-po-tiki.

It is worth while in this place to quote Sir James
Carroll, of New Zealand, who was for a long time the
Government Minister having charge of native affairs.
His high caste native blood and great ability gave him
a place in the highest order of chiefs among the Maoris.
He says that the greenstone charm Potiki (often called
Tiki) is the symbol of the unborn child according to
the thought of the chiefs best acquainted with Maori
folk-lore ; and Maui was a demi-god developing life after
being thrown away as a foetus prematurely born, thus
representing the first formed child after whom the
Potiki was named.

viii. MAUI— A DEMI -GOD.

Whether these legends came to the people in their so-
journ in India before they migrated to the Straits of
Sunda is not certain; but it may well be assumed that
these stories had taken firm root in the memories of the
priests who transmitted the most important traditions
from generation to generation, and that this must have
been done before they were driven away from the Asiatic
coasts by the Malays.

Several hints of Hindoo connection are found in the
Maui legends. The Polynesians not only ascribed human
attributes to all animal life with which they were ac-
quainted, but also carried the idea of an alligator or
dragon with them, wherever they went, as in the mo-o of
the story Tuna-roa.

The Polynesians also had the idea of a double soul
inhabiting the body. This is carried out in the ghost
legends more fully than in the Maui stories, and yet ' ' the
spirit separate from the spirit which never forsakes man"
according to Polynesian ideas, was a part of the Maui
birth legends. This spirit, which can be separated or
charmed away from the body by incantations was called
the "hau." When Maui's father performed the religious
ceremonies over him which would protect him and
cause him to be successful, he forgot a part of his in-
cantation to the "hau, " therefore Maui lost his pro-
tection from death when he sought immortality for
himself and all mankind.

How much these things aid in proving a Hindoo or
rather Indian origin for the Polynesians is uncertain, but
at least they are of interest along the lines of race origin.

The Maui group of legends is pre-eminently peculiar.
They are not only different from the myths of other na-

PREFACE. ix.

tions, but they are unique in the character of the actions
recorded. Maui 's deeds rank in a higher class than most
of the mighty efforts of the demi-gods of other nations
and races, and are usually of more utility. Hercules
accomplished nothing to compare with ' ' lifting the sky, ' '
"snaring the sun," ''fishing for islands," "finding fire
in his grandmother's finger nails," or "learning from
birds how to make fire by rubbing dry sticks," or "get-
ting a magic bone" from the jaw of an ancestor who was
half dead, that is dead on one side and therefore could
well afford to let the bone on that side go for the benefit
of a descendant. The Maui legends are full of helpful
imaginations, which are distinctly Polynesian.

The phrase "Maui of the Malo" is used among the
Hawaiians in connection with the name Maui a Ka-
lana, "Maui the son of Akalana." It may be well to
note the origin of the name. It was said that Hina
usually sent her retainers to gather sea moss for her,
but one morning she went down to the sea by her-
self. There she found a beautiful red malo, which she
wrapped around her as a pa-u or skirt. When she
showed it to Akalana, her husband, he spoke of it as
a gift of the gods, thinking that it meant the gift of
Mana or spiritual power to their child when he should
be born. In this way the Hawaiians explain the su-
perior talent and miraculous ability of Maui which
placed him above his brothers.

These stories were originally printed as magazine
articles, chiefly in the Paradise of the Pacific, Hono-
lulu; therefore there are sometimes repetitions which
it seemed best to leave, even when reprinted in the pre-
sent form.

PREFACE TO AUSTRALIAN EDITION

This book was published in Honolulu, Hawaiian
Islands, in 1910. It is now thought best to issue an
Australian edition for use in Australia and New Zea-
land.

Although the body of the book is practically un-
changed, a "Foreword" has been prepared by one of
the best Polynesian scholars; not only in New Zealand,
but throughout the world — the Hon. S. Percy Smith,
President of the Polynesian Society.

This adds greatly to the value of the Maui story,
and the thanks, not only of the author, but of all Poly-
nesian scholars, are due Mr. Smith for this addition to
the folk-lore of the marvellous demi-god.

FOREWORD

By S. Percy Smith, F.R.G.S.,
President, Polynesian Society.

MAUI, the demi-god, looms very largely in Poly-
nesian myth, tradition, and folk-lore. Mr.
Westervelt does well to call him a demi-god,
for god he assuredly was not. He stands on quite a
different plane to the gods of the race, and might
appropriately be called a "hero," because he embodies
the Polynesian idea of a hero — a gifted, clever, daring,
impudent, rollicking fellow, endowed moreover with
that kind of mana — which in this connection may be
translated supernatural power — that enabled him to
outdo the feats of ordinary mankind. He also occupies
a position in his family of brothers, which always
appeals to the Polynesian (indeed, to other races as
well) in that he was the youngest of them — the Cin-
derella, the despised and mischievous child — who by
force of character eventually became the leader of the
family. Many and many a Polynesian tale hinges on
the rise of the youngest of a family to the place of honor
and importance in a tribe.

rii. MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

Maui has several additional names, all expressive of
some of his characteristics; such as Maui-potiki (Maui-
the-youngest), Maui-tikitiki-a-Taranga (Maui-topknot-
of Taranga, his mother, the origin of which name Mr.
Westervelt has given) ; Maui-hangarau (Maui-of-the-
many-schemes), and so on. Each division of the race
has its special pet name for the hero, descriptive of the
achievement that appeals most to the particular branch
that originated the name.

As time passed, and the branches of the Polynesian
race separated off into the various islands in which they
are now found, the deeds of Maui became subject to the
well known and world-wide processes of alteration due
to local environment and localization, giving rise to
variations from the story as learnt (or invented) in the
ancient "Father-land" of the people. From like
causes the deeds of other heroes are now often accredited
to Maui; but these can often be separated out and
assigned to their proper places and periods. Notwith-
standing this, the general agreement of the series of
Maui legends wherever obtained among the Polynesians
is somewhat remarkable, as is proved by Mr. Wester-
velt's work. This, of course, means that the legends
came into being before the dispersion of the people to
the islands of the Pacific. And one part — but not all —
of them probably originated during the sojourn of the
Polynesians in Indonesia.

There has been an overflow of the Maui legends into

FOREWORD. xiii.

the islands inhabited by the black, or very dark,
Melansians to the west of Polynesia proper; but with
such a distortion of narratives and names, that we con-
clude they are not original with that people — they were,
in fact, learnt by them from some of the westward
migrations of the Polynesians who have, in many
instances, settled on some of the outlying islands of
Melanesia.

A careful study of the various legends (which has
not as yet been undertaken exhaustively), will clearly
lead to the inference that some are immensely older than
others. When we reflect that traces of the most ancient
Maui stories are to be discovered in the literature —
written and unwritten — of Egypt, Babylonia, Scan-
dinavia, India, and also in North America, we are at
once faced with the fact of the immense antiquity of the
early Maui legends.

"We may take as one of the most ancient of these, that
relating to Maui's successful efforts to lengthen the
day-light. The only reasonable interpretation that can
be placed on this is, the dimly remembered period »vhen
the people were living in some country where the
winter days were very short, and that the lengthened
days were secured to the people by migrating towards
the temperate or tropical regions of the earth; possibly
under the leadership of one named Maui, or, what is
more probable, the deeds of this migratory leader may
have been in after ages, when the legends surrounding

xiy. MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

the historical Mam became rife, accredited to him as the
national hero. It may be suggested that if the Poly-
nesians are, as some of us suppose, Proto-Aryans who
in very ancient times led the advance guard of the
Aryan migration from — let us say, with Oppert — the
shores of the Baltic, to south-eastern Asia, then the
legends of Maui's deeds in lengthening the days would,
in a measure, be accounted for.

Another of the Maui legends is doubtless far more
ancient than the period of the historical Maui. Mr.
Westervelt describes the death of the hero as arising
through his endeavour to secure everlasting life to man-
kind, in which undertaking he was frustrated and
killed by Hine-nui-te-po, the goddess of Hades. The
period of this incident is so ancient, that according to
the esoteric teaching of the priests and teachers of the
Maori Whare-wananga (or college), it occurred not long
after the creation of mankind, in that mysterious
"Father-land" of the race named Hawaiki. Hine-
nui-te-po was, according to the above teaching, the
second woman created, and was both wife and daughter
of Tane, the most celebrated of the Maori gods. On
discovering that Tane was her father she was so over-
come with shame and horror that she departed for
Hades, where she took the name of Hine-nui-te-po,
Great-lady-of-Hades, and became the goddess of those
realms, where she ever occupies herself in dragging
down to death the offspring of mankind. This shows

FOREWORD. xv.

how ancient the legend is, and that it cannot be placed
in the period of the historical Maui — he who "fished
up" so many lands, or in other words, discovered so
many islands.

The story of Maui's acquisition of fire for the use of
mankind, belongs probably to the ancient division of the
series (whilst it might also be modern), if the teaching
of the Maori college is considered. In that teaching the
fire is stated to be ' ' Ahi-komau, " or volcanic fire. If
so, the interpretation of the story may be, that Poly-
nesian mankind first obtained fire from incandescent
lava, and the subsequent conflagration of the country —
Te-ahi-a-Maui — may be the frequent accompaniment
of volcanic outbursts as often experienced when the
vegetation is frequently set ablaze.

It is, we submit, undoubtedly the case that there was
a family of the name of Maui who flourished according
to the best Maori genealogies about 50 generations ago,
or, in other words, in the seventh century; a period,
which the most reliable traditions seem to indicate as
that when a later migration of the Polynesian people
(known for convenience as the "Tonga-fiti" branch of
the race) were dwelling in Indonesia, and beginning to
spread into the borders of the Pacific. And it was here
probably the stories of Maui's "fishing up" of lands
originated, in the discovery of many new islands by
that hero. Or, what is just as likely, many a voyage
of discovery by other leaders has been in the process of

icvi. MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

time accredited to the national hero. The Maori
descents from the four Maui brothers are in sufficient
accordance to allow of our indicating the seventh cen-
tury as the period in which they flourished. Their
descendants are to be found in most of the islands
occupied by the Polynesians, excepting perhaps the
western groups of Samoa, Tonga, etc., who do not belong
to the ' ' Tonga-fiti " branch.

That the legends of the doings of Maui in Indonesia
have been localized in the various islands of the Pacific,
is only what might be expected from what we know of
similar cases in other parts of the world.

It would therefore seem that a distinction must be
drawn between the several legends of Maui — that some
are of untold antiquity, others of comparatively-speak-
ing modern date, and historical.

Mr. "Westervelt has placed students of Polynesian
history and traditions under a deep debt of gratitude by
collecting from so many sources the various versions as
handed down by the Polynesians in their scattered
homes all over the Pacific. We are now, for the first
time, in a position to deal comprehensively with the
subject, and let us hope, with his book before us, we
shall be enabled to throw a further ray of light on the
history of this most interesting people.

I.

MAUI'S HOME.

"Akalana was the man;
Hina-a-ke-ahi was the wife;
Maui First was born;
Then Maui-waena;
Maui Kiikii was born;
Then Maui of the malo."

— Queen Liliuokalani 's Family Chant.

BROTHERS, each bearing the name of
Maui, belong to Hawaiian legend. They ac-
complished little as a family, except on
special occasions when the youngest of the household
awakened his brothers by some unexpected trick which
drew them into unwonted action. The legends of
Hawaii, Tonga, Tahiti, New Zealand and the Hervey
group make this youngest Maui ''the discoverer of
fire" or "the ensnarer of the sun" or "the fisherman
who pulls up islands" or "the man endowed with
magic," or "Maui with spirit power." The legends

4 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

vary somewhat, of course, but not as much as might
be expected when the thousands of miles between vari-
ous groups of islands are taken into consideration.

Maui was one of the Polynesian demi-gods. His
parents belonged to the family of supernatural beings.
He himself was possessed of supernatural powers and
was supposed to make use of all manner of enchant-
ments. In New Zealand antiquity a Maui was said to
have assisted other gods in the creation of man.
Nevertheless Maui was very human. He lived in
thatched houses, had wives and children, and was
scolded by the women for not properly supporting his
household.

The time of his sojourn among men is very indefi-
nite. In Hawaiian genealogies Maui and his brothers
were placed among the descendants of Ulu and "the
sons of Kii," and Maui was one of the ancestors of
Kamehameha, the first king of the united Hawaiian
Islands. This would place him in the seventh or eighth
century of the Christian Era. But it is more probable
that Maui belongs to the mist-land of time. His mis-
chievous pranks with the various gods would make him
another Mercury living in any age from the creation
to the beginning of the Christian era.

The Hervey Island legends state that Maui's father
was "the supporter of the heavens" and his mother
"the guardian of the road to the invisible world."

In the Hawaiian chant, Akalana was the name of

MAUI'S HOME. 5

his father. In other groups this was the name by
which his mother was known. Kanaloa, the god, is
sometimes known as the father of Maui. In Hawaii
Hina was his mother. Elsewhere Ina, or Hina, was
the grandmother, from whom he secured fire.

The Hervey Island legends say that four mighty
ones lived in the old world from which their ancestors
came. This old world bore the name Ava-iki, which is
the same as Hawa-ii, or Hawaii. The four gods were
Mauike, Ra, Ru, and Bua-Taranga.

It is interesting to trace the connection of these four
names with Polynesian mythology. Mauike is the
same as the demi-god of New Zealand, Mafuike. On
other islands the name is spelled Mauika, Mafuika,
Mafuia, Mafuie, and Mahuika. Ra, the sun god of
Egypt, is the same as Ra in New Zealand and La
(sun) in Hawaii. Ru, the supporter of the heavens,
is probably the Ku of Hawaii, and the Tu of New
Zealand and other islands, one of the greatest of the
gods worshipped by the ancient Hawaiians. The fourth
mighty one from Ava-ika was a woman, Bua-taranga,
who guarded the path to the underworld. Talanga in
Samoa, and Akalana in Hawaii were the same as Ta-
ranga. Pua-kalana (the Kalana flower) would prob-
bly be the same in Hawaiian as Bua-taranga in the
language of the Society Islands.

Ru, the supporter of the heavens, married Bua-
taranga, the guardian of the lower world. Their one

C MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

child was Maui. The legends of Raro-Tonga state
that Maui's father and mother were the children of
Tangaroa (Kanaloa in Hawaiian), the great god wor-
shipped throughout Polynesia. There were three Maui
brothers and one sister, Ina-ika (Ina, the fish).

The New Zealand legends relate the incidents of the
babyhood of Maui.

Maui was prematurely born, and his mother, not
caring to be troubled with him, cut off a lock of her
hair, tied it around him and cast him into the sea. In
this way the name came to him, Maui-tikitiki, or
"Maui formed in the topknot." The waters bore him
safely. The jelly fish enwrapped and mothered him.
The god of the seas cared for and protected him. He
was carried to the god's house and hung up in the
roof that he might feel the warm air of the fire, and
be cherished into life. When he was old enough, he
came to his relations while they were all gathered in
the great House of Assembly, dancing and making
merry. Little Maui crept in and sat down behind his
brothers. Soon his mother called the children and
found a strange child, who proved that he was her
son, and was taken in as one of the family. Some of
the brothers were jealous, but the eldest addressed the
others as follows:

"Never mind; let him be our dear brother. In the
days of peace remember the proverb, 'When you are
on friendly terms, settle your disputes in a friendly

Rugged Lava of WailuRu River.

MAUI'S HOME. 7

way; when you are at war, you must redress your in-
juries by violence.' It is better for us, brothers, to be
kind to other people. These are the ways by which
men gain influence — by laboring for abundance of food
to feed others, by collecting property to give to others,
and by similar means by which you promote the good
of others."

Thus, according to the New Zealand story related
by Sir George Grey, Maui was received in his home.

Maui's home was placed by some of the Hawaiian
myths at Kauiki, a foothill of the great extinct crater
Haleakala, on the Island of Maui. It was here he
lived when the sky was raised to its present position.
Here was located the famous fort around which many
battles were fought during the years immediately pre-
ceding the coming of Captain Cook. This fort was held
by warriors of the Island of Hawaii a number of years.
It was from this home that Maui was supposed to have
journeyed when he climbed Mt. Haleakala to ensnare
the sun.

And yet most of the Hawaiian legends place Maui's
home by the rugged black lava beds of the Wailuku
river near Hilo on the island of Hawaii. Here he lived
when he found the way to make fire by rubbing sticks
together, and when he killed Kuna, the great eel, and
performed other feats of valor. He was supposed to
cultivate the land on the north side of the river. His
mother, usually known as Hina, had her home in a

8 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

lava cave under the beautiful Rainbow Falls, one of
the fine scenic attractions of Hilo. An ancient demi-
god, wishing to destroy this home, threw a great mass
of lava across the stream below the falls. The rising
water was fast filling the cave.

Hina called loudly to her powerful son Maui. He
came quickly and found that a large and strong ridge
of lava lay across the stream. One end rested against
a small hill. Maui struck the rock on the other side
of the hill and thus broke a new pathway for the river.
The water swiftly flowed away and the cave remained
as the home of the Maui family.

According to the King Kalakaua family legend, trans-
lated by Queen Liliuokalani, Maui and his brothers
also made this place their home. Here he aroused the
anger of two uncles, his mother's brothers, who were
called "Tall Post" and "Short Post," because they
guarded the entrance to a cave in which the Maui family
probably had its home.

"They fought hard with Maui, and were thrown,
and red water flowed freely from Maui's forehead. This
was the first shower by Maui." Perhaps some family
discipline followed this knocking down of door posts,
for it is said:

"They fetched the sacred Awa bush,

Then came the second shower by Maui;

The third shower was when the elbow of Awa was broken;

The fourth shower came with the sacred bamboo."

MAUI'S HOME. 9

Haul's mother, so says a New Zealand legend, had
her home in the under-world as well as with her chil-
dren. Maui determined to find the hidden dwelling
place. His mother would meet the children in the
evening and lie down to sleep with them and then
disappear with the first appearance of dawn. Maui
remained awake one night, and when all were asleep,
arose quietly and stopped up every crevice by which
a ray of light could enter. The morning came and the
sun mounted up — far up in the sky. At last his mother
leaped up and tore away the things which shut out
the light.

"Oh, dear; oh, dear! She saw the sun high in the
heavens; so she hurried away, crying at the thought
of having been so badly treated by her own children."

Maui watched her as she pulled up a tuft of grass
and disappeared in the earth, pulling the grass back
to its place.

Thus Maui found the path to the under-world. Soon
he transformed himself into a pigeon and flew down,
through the cave, until he saw a party of people under
a sacred tree, like those growing in the ancient first
Hawaii. He flew to the tree and threw down berries
upon the people. They threw back stones. At last
he permitted a stone from his father to strike him,
and he fell to the ground. "They ran to catch him,
but lo! the pigeon had turned into a man."

Then his father "took him to the water to be bap-

10 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

tized" (possibly a modern addition to the legend).
Prayers were offered and ceremonies passed through.
But the prayers were incomplete and Maui's father
knew that the gods would be angry and cause Maui's
death, and all because in the hurried baptism a part
of the prayers had been left unsaid. Then Maui re-
turned to the upper world and lived again with his
brothers.

Maui commenced his mischievous life early, for
Hervey Islanders say that one day the children were
playing a game dearly loved by Polynesians — hide-
and-seek. Here a sister enters into the game and
hides little Maui under a pile of dry sticks. His
brothers could not find him, and the sister told them
where to look. The sticks were carefully handled, but
the child could not be found. He had shrunk himself
so small that he was like an insect under some sticks
and leaves. Thus early he began to use enchant-
ments.

Maui's home, at the best, was only a sorry affair.
Gods and demi-gods lived in caves and small grass
houses. The thatch rapidly rotted and required con-
tinual renewal. In a very short time the heavy rains
beat through the decaying roof. The home was with-
out windows or doors, save as low openings in the
ends or sides allowed entrance to those willing to
crawl through. Off on one side would be the rude
shelter, in the shadow of which Hina pounded the

MAUI'S HOME. 11

bark of certain trees into wood pulp and then into
strips of thin, soft wood-paper, which bore the name
of "Kapa cloth." This cloth Hina prepared for the
clothing of Maui and his brothers. Kapa cloth was
often treated to a coat of coco-nut, or candle-nut oil,
making it somewhat waterproof and also more durable.

Here Maui lived on edible roots and fruits and raw
fish, knowing little about cooked food, for the art of
fire-making was not yet known. In later years Maui
was supposed to live on the eastern end of the island
Maui, and also in another home on the large island
Hawaii, on which he discovered how to make fire
by rubbing dry sticks together. Maui was the Poly-
nesian Mercury. As a little fellow he was endowed
with peculiar powers, permitting him to become in-
visible or to change his human form into that of an
animal. He was ready to take anything from any one
by craft or force. Nevertheless, like the thefts of Mer-
cury, his pranks usually benefited mankind.

It is a little curious that around the different homes
of Maui, there is so little record of temples and priests
and altars. He lived too far back for priestly customs.
His story is the rude, mythical survival of the days
when of church and civil government there was none
and worship of the gods was practically unknown, but
every man was a law unto himself, and also to the
other man, and quick retaliation followed any injury
received.

II

MAUI THE FISHERMAN.

"Oh the great fish hook of Maui!

Manai-i-ka-lani 'Made fast to the heavens' —
its name;

An earth-twisted cord ties the hook.
Engulfed from the lofty Kauiki.
Its bait the red billed Alae,
The bird made sacred to Hina.
It sinks far down to Hawaii,
Struggling and painfully dying.
Caught is the land under the water,
Floated up, up to the surface,
But Hina hid a wing of the bird
And broke the land under the water.
Below, was the bait snatched away
And eaten at once by the fishes,
The Ulua of the deep muddy places."

—Chant of Kualii, about A. D. 1700.

NE of Haul's homes was near Kauiki, a place
well known throughout the Hawaiian Islands
because of its strategic importance. For many
years it was the site of a fort around which fierce bat-

Leaping to Swim to Coral Reefs.

MAUI THE FISHERMAN. 13

ties were fought by the natives of the island Maui,
repelling the invasions of their neighbors from Ha-
waii.

Haleakala (the House of the Sun), the mountain
from which Maui the demi-god snared the sun, looks
down ten thousand feet upon the Kauiki headland.
Across the channel from Haleakala rises Mauna Kea,
" The White Mountain " — the snow-capped — which
almost all the year round rears its white head in
majesty among the clouds.

In the snowy breakers of the surf which washes the
beach below these mountains, are broken coral reefs
— the fishing grounds of the Hawaiians. Here near
Kauiki, according to some Hawaiian legends, Maui's
mother Hina had her grass house and made and dried
her kapa cloth. Even to the present day it is one of
the few places in the islands where the kapa is still
pounded into sheets from the bark of the hibiscus and
kindred trees.

Here is a small bay partially reef-protected, over
which year after year the moist clouds float and by
day and by night crown the waters with rainbows —
the legendary sign of the home of the deified ones.
Here when the tide is out the natives wade and swim,
as they have done for centuries, from coral block to
•coral block, shunning the deep resting places of their
dread enemy, the shark, sometimes esteemed divine.
Out on the edge of the outermost reef they seek the

14 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

shellfish which cling to the coral, or spear the large
fish which have been left in the beautiful little lakes
of the reef. Coral land is a region of the sea coast
abounding in miniature lakes and rugged valleys and
steep mountains. Clear waters with every motion of
the tide surge in and out through sheltered caves and
submarine tunnels, according to an ancient Hawaiian
song —

"Never quiet, never failing, never sleeping,
Never very noisy is the sea of the sacred caves."

Sea mosses of many hues are the forests which
drape the hillsides of coral land and reflect the colored
rays of light which pierce the ceaselessly moving
waves. Down in the beautiful little lakes, under over-
hanging coral cliffs, darting in and out through the
fringes of seaweed, the purple mullet and royal red
fish flash before the eyes of the fisherman. Sometimes
the many-tinted glorious fish of paradise reveal their
beauties, and then again a school of black and gold
citizens of the reef follow the tidal waves around
projecting crags and through the hidden tunnels
from lake to lake, while above the fisherman follows
spearing or snaring as best he can. Maui's brothers
were better fishermen than he. They sought the deep
sea beyond the reef and the larger fish. They made
hooks of bone or of mother of pearl, with a straight,
slender, sharp-pointed piece leaning backward at a

In the Sea of Sacred Caves.

MAUI THE FISHERMAN. 15

sharp angle. This was usually a consecrated bit of
bone or mother of pearl, and was supposed to have
peculiar power to hold fast any fish which had taken
the bait.

These bones were usually taken from the body of
some one who while living had been noted for great
power or high rank. This sharp piece was tightly
tied to the larger bone or shell, which formed the shank
of the hook. The sacred barb of Maui's hook was a
part of the magic bone he had secured from his ances-
tors in the under-world — the bone with which he struck
the sun while lassooing him and compelling him to
move more slowly through the heavens.

" Earth-twisted " — fibres of vines — twisted while
growing, was the cord used by Maui in tying the parts
of his magic hook together.

Long and strong were the fish lines made from the
olona fibre, holding the great fish caught from the
depths of the ocean. The fibres of the olona vine were
among the longest and strongest threads found in the
Hawaiian Islands.

Such a hook could easily be cast loose by the strug-
gling fish, if the least opportunity were given. There-
fore it was absolutely necessary to keep the line taut,
and pull strongly and steadily, to land the fish in the
canoe.

Maui did not use his magic hook for a long time.
He seemed to understand that it would not answer

16 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

ordinary needs. Possibly the idea of making the
supernatural hook did not occur to him until he had
exhausted his lower wit and magic upon his brothers.

It is said that Maui was not a very good fisherman.
Sometimes his end of the canoe contained fish which
his brothers had thought were on their hooks until
they were landed in the canoe.

Many times they laughed at him for his poor success,
and he retaliated with his mischievous tricks.

' ' E ! " he would cry, when one of his brothers began
to pull in, while the other brothers swiftly paddled
the canoe forward. ' ' E ! " See we both have caught
great fish at the same moment. Be careful now. Your
line is loose. Look out ! Look out ! ' '

All the time he would be pulling his own line in as
rapidly as possible. Onward rushed the canoe. Each
fisherman shouting to encourage the others. Soon the
lines by the tricky manipulation of Maui would be
•crossed. Then as the great fish was brought near the
side of the boat Maui the little, the mischievous one,
would slip his hook toward the head of the fish and
flip it over into the canoe — causing his brother's line
to slacken for a moment. Then his mournful cry
rang out: "Oh, my brother, your fish is gone. Why
•did you not pull more steadily? It was a fine fish,
and now it is down deep in the waters." Then Maui
held up his splendid catch (from his brother's hook)
and received somewhat suspicious congratulations.

MAUI THE FISHERMAN. 17

But what could they do? Maui was the smart one of
the family.

Their father and mother were both members of the
household of the gods. The father was "the sup-
porter of the heavens" and the mother was "the
guardian of the way to the invisible world," but piti-
fully small and very few were the gifts bestowed upon
their children. Maui's brothers knew nothing beyond
the average home life of the ordinary Hawaiian, and
Maui alone was endowed with the power to work
miracles. Nevertheless the student of Polynesian
legends learns that Maui is more widely known than
almost all the demi-gods of all nations as a discoverer
of benefits for his fellows, and these physical rather
than spiritual. After many fishing excursions Maui's
brothers seemed to have wit enough to understand his
tricks, and thenceforth they refused to take him in
their canoe when they paddled out to the deep-sea fish-
ing grounds. Then those who depended upon Maui
to supply their daily needs murmured against his poor
success. His mother scolded him and his brothers ridi-
culed him.

In some of the Polynesian legends it is said that his
wives and children complained because of his laziness
and at last goaded him into a new effort.

The ex-Queen Liliuokalani, in a translation of what
is called "the family chant," says that Maui's mother
sent him to his father for a hook with which to sup-
ply her need.

18 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

"Go hence to your father,

'Tis there you find line and hook.

This is the hook — 'Made fast to the heavens — '

' Manaia-ka-lani ' 'tis calle d.

When the hook catches land
It brings the old seas together.
Bring hither the large Alae,
The bird of Hina."

When Maui had obtained his hook, he tried to go
fishing with his brothers. He leaped on the end of
their canoe as they pushed out into deep water. They
were angry and cried out: "This boat is too small for
another, Maui." So they threw him off and made him
swim back to the beach. When they returned from
their day's work, they brought back only a shark.
Maui told them if he had been with them better fish
would have been upon their hooks — the Ulua, for in-
stance, or, possibly, the Pimoe — the king of fish. At
last they let him go far out outside the harbor of
Kipahula to a place opposite Ka Iwi o Pele, "The bone
of Pele," a peculiar piece of lava lying near the beach
at Hana on the eastern side of the island Maui. There
they fished, but only sharks were caught. The brothers
ridiculed Maui, saying: "W"here are the Ulua, and
where is Pimoe?"

Then Maui threw his magic hook into the sea, baited
with one of the Alae birds, sacred to his mother Hina.
He used the incantation, "When I let go my hook
with divine power, then I get the great Ulua."

MAUI THE FISHERMAN. 19

The bottom of the sea began to move. Great waves
arose, trying to carry the canoe away. The fish
pulled the canoe two days, drawing the line to its fullest
extent. When the slack began to come in the line,
because of the tired fish, Maui called for the brothers
to pull hard against the coming fish. Soon land rose
out of the water. Maui told them not to look back
or the fish would be lost. One brother did look back
— the line slacked, snapped, and broke, and the land lay
behind them in islands.

One of the Hawaiian legends also says that while
the brothers were paddling in full strength, Maui saw
a calabash floating in the water. He lifted it into the
canoe, and behold! his beautiful sister Hina of the
sea. The brothers looked, and the separated islands
lay behind them, free from the hook, while Cocoanut
Island — the dainty spot of beauty in Hilo harbor —
was drawn up — a little ledge of lava — in later years
the home of a cocoanut grove.

The better, the more complete, legend comes from
New Zealand, which makes Maui so mischievous that
his brothers refuse his companionship — and therefore,
thrown on his own resources, he studies how to make
a hook which shall catch something worth while. In
this legend Maui is represented as making his own
hook and then pleading with his brothers to let him
go with them once more. But they hardened their
hearts against him, and refused again and again.

20 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

Maui possessed the power of changing himself into
different forms. At one time while playing with his
brothers he had concealed himself for them to find.
They heard his voice in a corner of the house — but
could not find him. Then under the mats on the floor,
but again they could not find him. There was only an
insect creeping on the floor. Suddenly they saw their
little brother where the insect had been. Then they
knew he had been tricky with them. So in these fishing
days he resolved to go back to his old ways and cheat
his brothers into carrying him with them to the great
fishing grounds.

Sir George Grey says that the New Zealand Maui
went out to the canoe and concealed himself as an
insect in the bottom of the boat so that when the early
morning light crept over the waters and his brothers
pushed the canoe into the surf they could not see him.
They rejoiced that Maui did not appear, and paddled
away over the waters.

They fished all day and all night and on the morn-
ing of the next day, out from among the fish in the
bottom of the boat came their troublesome brother.

They had caught many fine fish and were satisfied,
so thought to paddle homeward; but their younger
brother pleaded with them to go out, far out, to the
deeper seas and permit him to cast his hook. He said
he wanted larger and better fish than any they had
captured.

Spearing Fish.

MAUI THE FISHERMAN. 21

So they paddled to their outermost fishing grounds
— but this did not satisfy Maui —

"Farther out on the waters,

O! my brothers,

I seek the great fish of the sea."

It was evidently easier to work for him than to argue
with him — therefore far out in the sea they went. The
home land disappeared from view; they could see
only the outstretching waste of waters. Maui urged
them out still farther. Then he drew his magic hook
from under his malo or loin-cloth. The brothers won-
dered what he would do for bait. The New Zealand
legend says that he struck his nose a mighty blow until
the blood gushed forth. When this blood became clotted,
he fastened it upon his hook and let it down into the
deep sea.

Down it went to the very bottom and caught the
under world. It was a mighty fish — but the brothers
paddled with all their might and main and Maui pulled
in the line. It was hard rowing against the power
which held the hook down in the sea depths — but the
brothers became enthusiastic over Maui's large fish,
and were generous in their strenuous endeavors. Every
muscle was strained and every paddle held strongly
against the sea that not an inch should be lost. There
was no sudden leaping and darting to and fro, no
"give" to the line; no "tremble" as when a great fish

22 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

would shake itself in impotent wrath when held captive
by a hook. It was simply a struggle of tense muscle
against an immensely heavy dead weight. To the
brothers there came slowly the feeling that Maui was
in one of his strange moods and that something beyond
their former experiences with their tricky brother was
coming to pass.

At last one of the brothers glanced backward. With
a scream of intense terror he dropped his paddle. The
others also looked. Then each caught his paddle and
with frantic exertion tried to force their canoe onward.
Deep down in the heavy waters they pushed their
paddles. Out of the great seas the black, ragged head
of a large island was rising like a fish — it seemed to
be chasing them through the boiling surf. In a little
while the water became shallow around them, and their
canoe finally rested on a black beach.

Maui for some reason left his brothers, charging
them not to attempt to cut up this great fish. But
the unwise brothers thought they would fill the canoe
with part of this strange thing which they had caught.
They began to cut up the back and put huge slices
into their canoe. But the great fish — the island —
shook under the blows and with mighty earthquake
shocks tossed the boat of the brothers, and their canoe
was destroyed. As they were struggling in the waters,
the great fish devoured them. The island came up
more and more from the waters — but the deep gashes

MAUI THE FISHEKMAN. 23

made by Haul's brothers did not heal — they be-
came the mountains and valleys stretching from sea
to sea.

White of New Zealand says that Maui went down
into the underworld to meet his great ancestress, who
was one side dead and one side alive. From the dead
side he took the jaw bone, made a magic hook, and
went fishing. When he let the hook down into the
sea, he called:

"Take my bait. O Depths!
Confused you are. O Depths!
And coming upward."

Thus he pulled up Ao-tea-roa — one of the large
islands of New Zealand. On it were houses, with
people around them. Fires were burning. Maui
walked over the island, saw with wonder the strange
men and the mysterious fire. He took fire in his hands
and was burned. He leaped into the sea, dived deep,
came up with the other large island on his shoulders.
This island he set on fire and left it always burning.
It is said that the name for New Zealand given to
Captain Cook was Te ika o Maui, "The fish of Maui."
Some New Zealand natives say that he fished up the
island on which dwelt "Great Hina of the Night," who
finally destroyed Maui while he was seeking immor-
tality.

One legend says that Maui fished up apparently

24 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

from New Zealand the large island of the Tongas. He
used this chant:

"0 Tonga-nui!
Why art Thou
Sulkily biting, biting below f
Beneath the earth
The power is felt,
The foam is seen,

Coming.

O thou loved grandchild
Of Tangaroa-meha. "

This is an excellent poetical description of the great
fish delaying the quick hard bite. Then the island
comes to the surface and Maui, the beloved grandchild
of the Polynesian god Kanaloa, is praised.

It was part of one of the legends that Maui changed
himself into a bird and from the heavens let down a
line with which he drew up land, but the line broke,
leaving islands rather than a mainland. About two
hundred lesser gods went to the new islands in a large
canoe. The greater gods punished them by making
them mortal.

Turner, in his book on Samoa, says there were three
Mauis, all brothers. They went out fishing from
Rarotonga. One of the brothers begged the "goddess
of the deep rocks" to let his hooks catch land. Then
the island Manahiki was drawn up. A great wave
washed two of the Mauis away. The other Maui

MAUI THE FISHEKMAN. 25

found a great house in which eight hundred gods
lived. Here he made his home until a chief from
Rarotonga drove him away. He fled into the sky,
but as he leaped he separated the land into two
islands.

Other legends of Samoa say that Tangaroa, the great
god, rolled stones from heaven. One became the
island Savaii, the other became Upolu. A god is
sometimes represented as passing over the ocean with
a bag of sand. Wherever he dropped a little sand
islands sprang up.

Paton, the earnest and honored missionary of the
New Hebrides Islands, evidently did not know fthe
name Mauitikitiki, so he spells the name of the fisher-
man Ma-tshi-ktshi-ki, and gives the myth of the fish-
ing up of the various islands. The natives said that
Maui left footprints on the coral reefs of each island
where he stood straining and lifting in his endeavors
to pull up each other island. He threw his line around
a large island intending to draw it up and unite it
with the one on which he stood, but his line broke.
Then he became angry and divided into two parts
the island on which he stood. This same Maui is re-
corded by Mr. Paton as being in a flood which put
out one volcano — Maui seized another, sailed across
to a neighboring island and piled it upon the top of
the volcano there, so the fire was placed out of reach
of the flood.

26 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

In the Hervey Group of the Tahitian or Society
Islands the same story prevails and the natives point
out the place where the hook caught and a print was
made by the foot in the coral reef. But they add some
very mythical details. Maui's magic fish-hook is thrown
into the skies, where it continuously hangs, the curved
tail of the constellation which we call Scorpio. Then
one of the gods becoming angry with Maui seized him
and threw him also among the stars. There he stays
looking down upon his people. He has become a fixed
part of the scorpion itself.

The Hawaiian myths sometimes represent Maui as
trying to draw the islands together while fishing them
out of the sea. When they had pulled up the island
of Kauai they looked back and were frightened. They
evidently tried to rush away from the new monster
and thus broke the line. Maui tore a side out of the
small crater Kaula when trying to draw it to one of
the other islands. Three aumakuas, three fishes sup-
posed to be spirit-gods, guarded Kaula and defeated
his purpose. At Hawaii Cocoanut Island broke off
because Maui pulled too hard. Another place near
Hilo on the large island of Hawaii where the hook
was said to have caught is in the Wailuku river below
Rainbow Falls.

Maui went out from his home at Kauiki, fishing
with his brothers. After they had caught some fine
fish the brothers desired to return, but Maui persuaded

MAUI THE FISHERMAN. 27

them to go out farther. Then when they became tired
and determined to go back, he made the seas stretch
out and the shores recede until they could see no land.
Then drawing the magic hook, he baited it with the
Alae or sacred mud hen belonging to his Mother Hina.
Queen Liliuokalani 's family chant has the following
reference to this myth :

"Maui longed for fish for Hina-akeahi (Hina of the fire, his

mother),

Go hence to your father,
There you will find line and hook.
Manaiakalani is the hook.
Where the islands are caught,
The ancient seas are connected.
The great bird Alae is taken,
The sister bird,
Of that one of the hidden fire of Maui."

Maui evidently had no scruples against using any-
thing which would help him carry out his schemes.
He indiscriminately robbed his friends and the gods
alike.

Down in the deep sea sank the hook with its strug-
gling bait, until it was seized by "the land under the
water. ' '

But Hina the mother saw the struggle of her sacred
bird and hastened to the rescue. She caught a wing
of the bird, but could not pull the Alae from the
sacred hook. The wing was torn off. Then the fish

28 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

gathered around the bait and tore it in pieces. If the
bait could have been kept entire, then the land would
have come up in a continent rather than as an island.
Then the Hawaiian group would have been unbroken.
But the bait broke — and the islands came as frag-
ments from the under world.

Maui's hook and canoe are frequently mentioned in
the legends. The Hawaiians have a long rock in
the Wailuku river at Hilo which they call Maui's
canoe. Different names were given to Maui's canoe
by the Maoris of New Zealand. "Vine of Heaven,"
"Prepare for the North," "Land of the Receding Sea."
His fish hook bore the name "Plume of Beauty."

On the southern end of Hawke's Bay, New Zealand,
there is a curved ledge of rocks extending out from
the coast. This is still called by the Maoris "Maui's
fish-hook," as if the magic hook had been so firmly
caught in the jaws of the island that Maui could not
disentangle it, but had been compelled to cut it off
from his line.

There is a large stone on the sea coast of North
Kohala on the island of Hawaii which the Hawaiians
point out as the place where Maui's magic hook
caught the island and pulled it through the sea.

In the Tonga Islands, a place known as Hounga is
pointed out by the natives as the spot where the
magic hook caught in the rocks. The hook itself was

Here are the Canoes.

MAUI THE FISHERMAN. 29

said to have been in the possession of a chief -family
for many generations.

Another group of Hawaiian legends, very incom-
plete, probably referring to Maui, but ascribed to
other names, relates that a fisherman caught a large
block of coral. He took it to his priest. After sacri-
ficing, and consulting the gods, the priest advised the
fisherman to throw the coral back into the sea with
incantations. While so doing this block became Ha-
waii-loa. The fishing continued and blocks of coral
were caught and thrown back into the sea until all the
islands appeared. Hints of this legend cling to other
island groups as well as to the Hawaiian Islands.
Fornander credits a fisherman from foreign lands as
thus bringing forth the Hawaiian Islands from the
deep seas. The reference occurs in part of a chant
known as that of a friend of Paao — the priest who is
supposed to have come from Samoa to Hawaii in the
eleventh century. This priest calls for his com-
panions :

"Here are the canoes. Get aboard.
Come along, and dwell on Hawaii with the green back.
A land which was found in the ocean,
A land thrown up from the sea —
From the very depths of Kanaloa,
The white coral, in the watery caves,
That was caught on the hook of the fisherman."

The god Kanaloa is sometimes known as a ruler of
the under-world, whose land was caught by Maui's

30 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

hook and brought up in islands. Thus in the legends
the thought has been perpetuated that some one of
the ancestors of the Polynesians made voyages and
discovered islands.

In the time of Umi, King of Hawaii, there is the
following record of an immense bone fish-hook, which
was called the ' ' fish-hook of Maui : ' '

"In the night of Muku (the last night of the month),
a priest and his servants took a man, killed him, and
fastened his body to the hook, which bore the name
Manai-a-ka-lani, and dragged it to the heiau (temple)
as a ' fish, ' and placed it on the altar. ' '

This hook was kept until the time of Kamehameha
I. From time to time he tried to break it, and pulled
until he perspired.

Peapea, a brother of Kaahumanu, took the hook
and broke it. He was afraid that Kamehameha would
kill him. Kaahumanu, however, soothed the King,
and he passed the matter over. The broken bone was
probably thrown away.

III.

MAUI LIFTING THE SKY.

>nC AUI 'S home was for a long time enveloped by
j l\ darkness. The heavens had fallen down, or,
rather, had not been separated from the earth.
According to some legends, the skies pressed so closely
and so heavily upon the earth that when the plants
began to grow, all the leaves were necessarily flat.
According to other legends, the plants had to push up
the clouds a little, and thus caused the leaves to
flatten out into larger surface, so that they could bet-
ter drive the skies back and hold them in place. Thus
the leaves became flat at first, and have so remained
through all the days of mankind. The plants lifted the
sky inch by inch until men were able to crawl about
between the heavens and the earth, and thus pass
from place to place and visit one another.

After a long time, according to the Hawaiian
legends, a man, supposed to be Maui, came to a woman
and said: "Give me a drink from your gourd cala-

32 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

bash, and I will push the heavens higher." The
woman handed the gourd to him. When he had taken
a deep draught, he braced himself against the clouds
and lifted them to the height of the trees. Again he
hoisted the sky and carried it to the tops of the moun-
tains; then with great exertion he thrust it upwards
once more, and pressed it to the place it now occu-
pies. Nevertheless dark clouds many times hang low
along the eastern slope of Maui's great mountain —
Haleakala — and descend in heavy rains upon the hill
Kauwiki ; but they dare not stay, lest Maui the strong
come and hurl them so far away that they cannot
come back again.

A man who had been watching the process of lift-
ing the sky ridiculed Maui for attempting such a diffi-
cult task. When the clouds rested on the tops of the
mountains, Maui turned to punish his critic. The
man had fled to the other side of the island. Maui
rapidly pursued and finally caught him on the sea
coast, not many miles north of the town now known
as Lahaina. After a brief struggle the man was
changed, according to the story, into a great black
rock, which can be seen by any traveller who desires
to localize the legends of Hawaii.

> In Samoa Tiitii, the latter part of the full name of
Mauikiikii, is used as the name of the one who braced
his feet against the rocks and pushed the sky up. The

MAUI LIFTING THE SKY. 33

foot-prints, some six feet long, are said to be shown
by the natives.

Another Samoan story is almost like the Hawaiian
legend. The heavens had fallen, people crawled, but «
the leaves pushed up a little; but the sky was uneven.
Men tried to walk, but hit their heads, and in this con-
fined space it was very hot. A woman rewarded a
man who lifted the sky to its proper place by giving
him a drink of water from her cocoanut shell.

A number of small groups of islands in the Pacific
have legends of their skies being lifted, but they at-
tribute the labor to the great eels and serpents of
the sea.

One of the Ellice group, Niu Island, says that as
the serpent began to lift the sky the people clapped
their hands and shouted "Lift up!" "High!"
"Higher!" But the body of the serpent finally broke
into pieces which became islands, and the blood
sprinkled its drops on the sky and became stars.

One of the Samoan legends says that a plant called
daiga, which had one large umbrella-like leaf, pushed
up the sky and gave it its shape.

The Vatupu, or Tracey Islanders, said at one time
the sky and rocks were united. Then steam or clouds
of smoke rose from the rocks, and, pouring out in
volumes, forced the sky away from the earth. Man
appeared in these clouds of steam or smoke. Perspira-
tion burst forth as this man forced his way through

34 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

the heated atmosphere. From this perspiration woman
was formed. Then were born three sons, two of
whom pushed up the sky. One, in the north, pushed
as far as his arms would reach. The one in the south
was short and climbed a hill, pushing as he went up,
until the sky was in its proper place.

The Gilbert Islanders say the sky was pushed up
by men with long poles.

The ancient New Zealanders understood incanta-
tions by which they could draw up or discover. They
found a land where the sky and the earth were united.
They prayed over their stone axe and cut the sky and
land apart. "Hau-hau-tu" was the name of the great
stone axe by which the sinews of the great heaven
above were severed, and Rangi (sky) was separated
from Papa (earth).

The New Zealand Maoris were accustomed to say
that at first the sky rested close upon the earth and
therefore there was utter darkness for ages. Then
the six sons of heaven and earth, born during this
period of darkness, felt the need of light and discussed
the necessity of separating their parents — the sky from
the earth — and decided to attempt the work.

Kongo (Hawaiian god Lono) the "father of food
plants," attempted to lift the sky, but could not tear
it from the earth. Then Tangaroa (Kanaloa), the
"father of fish and reptiles," failed. Haumia Tiki-tiki
who was the "father of wild food plants," could

MAUI LIFTING THE SKY. 35

not raise the clouds. Then Tu (Hawaiian Ku), the
"father of fierce men," struggled in vain. But Tane
(Hawaiian Kane), the "father of giant forests,"
pushed and lifted until he thrust the sky far up above
him. Then they discovered their descendants — the
multitude of human beings who had been living on
the earth concealed and crushed by the clouds. After-
wards the last son, Tawhiri (father of storms), was
angry and waged war against his brothers. He hid
in the sheltered hollows of the great skies. There he
begot his vast brood of winds and storms with which
he finally drove all his brothers and their descendants
into hiding places on land and sea. The New Zea-
landers mention the names of the canoes in which
their ancestors fled from the old home Hawaiki.

Tu (father of fierce men) and his descendants, how-
ever, conquered wind and storm and have ever since
held supremacy.

The New Zealand legends also say that heaven and
earth have never lost their love for each other. "The
warm sighs of earth ever ascend from the wooded
mountains and valleys, and men call them mists. The
sky also lets fall frequent tears which men term dew
drops."

The Manihiki islanders say that Maui desired to
separate the sky from the earth. His father ( Ru, was
the supporter of the heavens. Maui persuaded him to
assist in lifting the burden. Maui went to the north

36 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

and crept into a place, where, lying prostrate under
the sky, he could brace himself against it and push
with great power. In the same way Ru went to the
south and braced himself against the southern skies.
Then they made the signal, and both pressed "with
their backs against the solid blue mass." It gave way
before the great strength of the father and son. Then
they lifted again, bracing themselves with hands and
knees against the earth. They crowded it and bent it
upward. They were able to stand with the sky resting
on their shoulders. They heaved against the bending
mass, and it receded rapidly. They quickly put the
palms of their hands under it; then the tips of their
fingers, and it retreated farther and farther. At last,
"drawing themselves out to gigantic proportions, they
pushed the entire heavens up to the very lofty position
which they have ever since occupied."

But Maui and Ru had not worked perfectly to-
gether; therefore the sky was twisted and its surface
was very irregular. They determined to smooth the
sky before they finished their task, so they took large
stone adzes and chipped off the rough protuberances
and ridges, until by and by the great arch was cut out
and smoothed off. They then took finer tools and
chipped and polished until the sky became the beau-
tifully finished blue dome which now bends around
the earth.

The Hervey Island myth, as related by "W. W. Gill,

MAUI LIFTING THE SKY. 37

states that Ru, the father of Maui, came from Avaiki
(Hawa-iki), the underworld or abode of the spirits
of the dead. He found men crowded down by the
sky, which was a mass of solid blue stone. He was
very sorry when he saw the condition of the inhabi-
tants of the earth, and planned to raise the sky a little.
So he planted stakes of different kinds of trees. These
were strong enough to hold the sky so far above the
earth 'that men could stand erect and walk about
without inconvenience." This was celebrated in one
of the Hervey Island songs:

"Force up the heavens,

O, Eu!

And let the space be clear."

For this helpful deed Ru received the name "The
supporter of the heavens." He was rather proud of
his achievement and was gratified because of the
praise received. So he came sometimes and looked at
the stakes and the beautiful blue sky resting on them.
Maui, the son, came along and ridiculed his father for
thinking so much of his work. Maui is not repre-
sented, in the legends, as possessing a great deal of
love and reverence for his relatives provided his af-
fection interfered with his mischief; so it was not at
all strange that he laughed at his father. Ru became
angry and said to Maui: "Who told youngsters to
talk? Take care of yourself, or I will hurl you out
of existence."

38 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

Maui dared him to try it. Ru quickly seized him
and "threw him to a great height." But Maui changed
himself to a bird and sank back to earth unharmed.

Then he changed himself back into the form of a
man, and, making himself very large, ran and thrust
his head between the old man's legs. He pried and
lifted until Ru and the sky around him began to give.
Another lift and he hurled them both to such a height
that the sky could not come back.

Ru himself was entangled among the stars. His
head and shoulders stuck fast, and he could not free
himself. How he struggled, until the skies shook,
while Maui went away. Maui was proud of his
achievement in having moved the sky so far away.
In this self -rejoicing he quickly forgot his father.

Ru died after a time. "His body rotted away and
his bones, of vast proportions, came tumbling down
from time to time, and were shivered on the earth into
countless fragments. These shattered bones of Ru
are scattered over every hill and valley of one of the
islands, to the very edge of the sea."

Thus the natives of the Hervey Islands account for
the many pieces of porous lava and the small pieces
of pumice stone found occasionally in their islands.
The "bones" were very light and greatly resembled
fragments of real bone. If the fragments were large
enough they were sometimes taken and worshiped as
gods. One of these pieces, of extraordinary size, was

MAUI LIFTING THE SKY. 39

given to Mr. Gill when the natives were bringing in
a large collection of idols. "This one was known as
'The Light Stone,' and was worshiped as the god of
the wind and the waves. Upon occasions of a hurri-
cane, incantations and offerings of food would be
made to it."

Thus, according to different Polynesian legends,
Maui raised the sky and made the earth inhabitable
for his fellow-men.

IV.

MAUI SNARING THE SUN.

"Maui became restless and fought the sun
With a noose that he laid.
And winter won the sun,
And summer was won by Maui. "

— Queen Liliuokalani 'B Family Chant.

HVERY unique legend is found among the
widely-scattered Polynesians. The story of
Maui's "Snaring the Sun" was told among
the Maoris of New Zealand, the Kanakas of the Her-
vey and Society Islands, and the ancient natives of
Hawaii. The Samoans tell the same story without
mentioning the name of Maui. They say that the
snare was cast by a child of the sun itself.

The Polynesian stories of the origin of the sun are
worthy of note before the legend of the change from
short to long days is given.

The Rarotongans, according to W. "W. Gill, tell
the story of the origin of the sun and moon. They

MAUI SNARING THE SUN. 41

say that Vatea (Wakea) and their ancestor Tongaiti
quarreled concerning a child — each claiming it as his
own. In the struggle the child was cut in two. Vatea
squeezed and rolled the part he secured into a ball
and threw it away, far up into the heavens, where it
became the sun. It shone brightly as it rolled along
the heavens, and sank down to Avaiki (Hawaiki), the
nether world. But the ball came back again and once
more rolled across the sky. Tonga-iti had let his half
of the child fall on the ground and lie there, until
made envious by the beautiful ball Vatea made.

At last he took the flesh which lay on the ground
and made it into a ball. As the sun sank he threw
his ball up into the darkness, and it rolled along the
heavens, but the blood had drained out of the flesh
while it lay upon the ground, therefore it could not
become so red and burning as the sun, and had not
life to move so swiftly. It was as white as a dead
body, because its blood was all gone; and it could not
make the darkness flee away as the sun had done.
Thus day and night and the sun and moon always
remain with the earth.

The legends of the Society Islands say that a demon
in the west became angry with the sun and in his
rage ate it up, causing night. In the same way a
demon from the east would devour the moon, but for
some reason these angry ones could not destroy their
captives and were compelled to open their mouths

42 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

and let the bright balls come forth once more. In
some places a sacrifice of some one of distinction was
needed to placate the wrath of the devourers and free
the balls of light in times of eclipse.

The moon, pale and dead in appearance, moved
slowly; while the sun, full of life and strength, moved
quickly. Thus days were very short and nights were
very long. Mankind suffered from the fierceness of
the heat of the sun and also from its prolonged ab-
sence. Day and night were alike a burden to men.
The darkness was so great and lasted so long that
fruits would not ripen.

After Maui had succeeded in throwing the heavens
into their place, and fastening them so that they could
not fall, he learned that he had opened a way for the
sun-god to come up from the lower world and rapidly
run across the blue vault. This made two troubles
for men — the heat of the sun was very great and the
journey too quickly over. Maui planned to capture
the sun and punish him for thinking so little about
the welfare of mankind.

As Rev. A. 0. Forbes, a missionary among the Ha-
waiians, relates, Maui's mother was troubled very
much by the heedless haste of the sun. She had many
kapa-cloths to make, for this was the only kind of
clothing known in Hawaii, except sometimes a woven
mat or a long grass fringe worn as a skirt. This na-
tive cloth was made by pounding the fine bark of cer-

lao Mountain from the Sea.

MAUI SNARIlsG THE SUN. 43

tain trees with wooden mallets until the fibres were
beaten and ground into a wood pulp. Then she
pounded the pulp into thin sheets from which the
best sleeping mats and clothes could be fashioned.
These kapa cloths had to be thoroughly dried, but
the days were so short that by the time she had
spread out the kapa the sun had heedlessly rushed
across the sky and gone down into the under-world,
and all the cloth had to be gathered up again and
cared for until another day should come. There were
other troubles. "The food could not be prepared and
cooked in one day. Even an incantation to the gods
could not be chanted through ere they were overtaken
by darkness."

This was very discouraging and caused great suf-
fering, as well as much unnecessary trouble and labor.
Many complaints were made against the thoughtless
sun.

Maui pitied his mother and determined to make the
sun go slower that the days might be long enough to
satisfy the needs of men. Therefore, he went over to
the northwest of the island on which he lived. This
was Mt. lao, an extinct volcano, in which lies one of
the most beautiful and picturesque valleys of the
Hawaiian Islands. He climbed the ridges until he
could see the course of the sun as it passed over the
island. He saw that the sun came up the eastern
side of Mt. Haleakala. He crossed over the plain be-

44 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

tween the two mountains and climbed to the top of
Mt. Haleakala. There he watched the burning sun
as it came up from Koolau and passed directly over
the top of the mountain. The summit of Haleakala
is a great extinct crater twenty miles in circumfer-
ence, and nearly twenty-five hundred feet in depth.
There are two tremendous gaps or chasms in the
side of the crater wall, through which in days gone
by the massive bowl poured forth its flowing lava.
One of these was the Koolau, or eastern gap, in which
Maui probably planned to catch the sun.

Mt. Hale-a-ka-la of the Hawaiian Islands means
House-of-the-sun. "La," or "Ra," is the name of the
sun throughout parts of Polynesia. Ra was the sun-
god of ancient Egypt. Thus the antiquities of Poly-
nesia and Egypt touch each other, and today no man
knows the full reason thereof.

The Hawaiian legend says Maui was taunted by a
man who ridiculed the idea that he could snare the
sun, saying, "You will never catch the sun. You are
only an idle nobody."

Maui replied, "When I conquer my enemy and my
desire is attained, I will be your death. ' '

After studying the path of the sun, Maui returned
to his mother and told her that he would go and cut
off the legs of the sun so that he could not run so
fast.

His mother said: "Are you strong enough for this

MAUI SNARING THE SUN. 45

work?" He said, "Yes." Then she gave him fifteen
strands of well-twisted fiber and told him to go to his
grandmother, who lived in the great crater of Hale-
akala, for the rest of the things in his conflict with
the sun. She said: "You must climb the mountain
to the place where a large wiliwili tree is standing.
There you will find the place where the sun stops to
eat cooked bananas prepared by your grandmother.
Stay there until a rooster crows three times; then
watch your grandmother go out to make a fire and
put on food. You had better take her bananas. She
will look for them and find you and ask who you are.
Tell her you belong to Hina."

When she had taught him all these things, he went
up the mountain to Kaupo to the place Hina had di-
rected. There was a large wiliwili tree. Here he
waited for the rooster to crow. The name of that
rooster was Kalauhele-moa. When the rooster had
crowed three times, the grandmother came out with a
bunch of bananas to cook for the sun. She took off
the upper part of the bunch and laid it down. Maui
immediately snatched it away. In a moment she
turned to pick it up, but could not find it. She was
angry and cried out: "Where are the bananas of the
sun?" Then she took off another part of the bunch,
and Maui stole that. Thus he did until all the bunch
had been taken away. She was almost blind and
could not detect him by sight, so she sniffed all around

46 MAUT— A DEMI-GOD.

her until she detected the smell of a man. She asked:
"Who are you? To whom do you belong?" Maui
replied : ' ' I belong to Hina. " ' ' Why have you come ? ' '
Maui told her, "I have come to kill the sun. He goes
so fast that he never dries the kapa Hina has beaten
out."

The old woman gave a magic stone for a battle axe
and one more rope. She taught him how to catch the
sun, saying: "Make a place to hide here by this large
wiliwili tree. When the first leg of the sun comes up,
catch it with your first rope, and so on until you have
used all your ropes. Fasten them to the tree, then
take the stone axe to strike the body of the sun."

Maui dug a hole among the roots of the tree and
concealed himself. Soon the first ray of light — the
first leg of the sun — came up along the mountain side.
Maui threw his rope and caught it. One by one the
legs of the sun came over the edge of the crater's rim
and were caught. Only one long leg was still hang-
ing down the side of the mountain. It was hard for
the sun to move that leg. It shook and trembled and
tried hard to come up. At last it crept over the edge
and was caught by Maui with the rope given by his
grandmother.

When the sun saw that his sixteen long legs were
held fast in the ropes, he began to go back down the
mountain side into the sea. Then Maui tied the ropes
fast to the tree and pulled until the body of the sun

MAUI SNARING THE SUN. 47

came up again. Brave Maui caught his magic stone
club or axe, and began to strike and wound the sun,
until he cried : ' ' Give me my life. ' ' Maui said : " If you
live, you may be a traitor. Perhaps I had better kill
you." But the sun begged for life. After they had
conversed a while, they agreed that there should be
a regular motion in the journey of the sun. There
should be longer days, and yet half the time he might
go quickly as in the winter time, but the other half he
must move slowly as in summer. Thus men dwelling
on the earth should be blessed.

Another legend says that he made a lasso and climbed
to the summit of Mt. Haleakala. He made ready his
lasso, so that when the sun came up the mountain
side and rose above him he could cast the noose and
catch the sun, but he only snared one of the sun's
larger rays and broke it off. Again and again he threw
the lasso until he had broken off all the strong rays
of the sun.

Then he shouted exultantly, "Thou art my captive;
I will kill thee for going so swiftly. ' '

Then the sun said, "Let me live and thou shalt see
me go more slowly hereafter. Behold, hast thou not
broken off all my strong legs and left me only the weak
ones?"

So the agreement was made, and Maui permitted
the sun to pursue his course, and from that day he
went more slowly.

48 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

Maui returned from his conflict with the sun and
sought for Moemoe, the man who had ridiculed him.
Maui chased this man around the island from one
side to the other until they had passed through La-
haina (one of the first mission stations in 1828). There
on the seashore near the large black rock of the legend
of Maui lifting the sky he found Moemoe. Then they
left the seashore and the contest raged up hill and
down until Maui slew the man and "changed the body
into a long rock, which is there to this day, by the side
of the road going past Black Rock."

Before the battle with the sun occurred Maui went
down into the underworld, according to the New Zea-
land tradition, and remained a long time with his rela-
tives. In some way he learned that there was an en-
chanted jawbone in the possession of some one of his
ancestors, so he waited and waited, hoping that at last
he might discover it.

After a time he noticed that presents of food were
being sent away to some person wfiom he had not met.

One day he asked the messengers, "Who is it you
are taking that present of food to?"

The people answered, "It is for Muri, your ances-
tress."

Then he asked for the food, saying, "I will carry it
to her myself."

But he took the food away and hid it. "And this

MAUI SNARING THE SUN. 49

he did for many days," and the presents failed to reach
the old woman.

By and by she suspected mischief, for it did not
seem as if her friends would neglect her so long a
time, so she thought she would catch the tricky one
and eat him. She depended upon her sense of smell
to detect the one who had troubled her. As Sir George
Grey tells the story: "When Maui came along the
path carrying the present of food, the old chief ess
sniffed and sniffed until she was sure that she smelt
some one coming. She was very much exasperated, and
her stomach began to distend itself that she might be
ready to devour this one when he came near.

Then she turned toward the south and sniffed and
not a scent of anything reached her. Then she turned
to the north, and to the east, but could not detect the
odor of a human being. She made one more trial and
turned toward the west. Ah! then came the scent of
a man to her plainly and she called out 'I know, from
the smell wafted to 'me by the breeze, that somebody
is close to me.' "

Maui made known his presence and the old woman
knew that he was a descendant of hers, and her stomach
began immediately to shrink and contract itself
again.

Then she asked, "Art thou Maui?"

He answered, "Even so," and told her that he

60 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

wanted "the jaw-bone by which great enchantments
could be wrought. ' '

Then Muri, the old chiefess, gave him the magic
bone and he returned to his brothers, who were still
living on the earth.

Then Maui said: "Let us now catch the sun in a
noose that we may compel him to move more slowly
in order that mankind may have long days to labor in
and procure subsistence for themselves."

They replied, "No man can approach it on account
of the fierceness of the heat."

According to the Society Island legend, his mother
advised him to have nothing to do with the sun, who
was a divine living creature, "in form like a man,
possessed of fearful energy," shaking his golden locks
both morning and evening in the eyes of men. Many
persons had tried to regulate the movements of the
sun, but had failed completely.

But Maui encouraged his mother and his brothers
by asking them to remember his power to protect him-
self by the use of enchantments.

The Hawaiian legend says that Maui himself gath-
ered cocoanut fibre in great quantity and manufac-
tured it into strong ropes. But the legends of other
islands say that he had the aid of his brothers, and
while working learned many useful lessons. While
winding and twisting they discovered how to make
square ropes and flat ropes as well as the ordinary

MAUI SNARING THE SUN. 51

round rope. In the Society Islands, it is said, Maui
and his brothers made six strong ropes of great length.
These he called aeiariki (royal nooses).

The New Zealand legend says that when Maui and
his brothers had finished making all the ropes required
they took provisions and other things needed and jour-
neyed toward the east to find the place where the sun
should rise. Maui carried with him the magic jaw-bone
which he had secured from Muri, his ancestress, in
the under-world.

They travelled all night and concealed themselves by
day so that the sun should not see them and become
too suspicious and watchful. In this way they jour-
neyed, until "at length they had gone very far to the
eastward and had come to the very edge of the place
out of which the sun rises. There they set to work
and built on each side a long, high wall of clay, with
huts of boughs of trees at each end to hide themselves
in."

Here they laid a large noose made from their ropes
and Maui concealed himself on one side of this place
along which the sun must come, while his brothers
hid on the other side.

Maui seized his magic enchanted jaw-bone as the
weapon with which to fight the sun, and ordered his
brothers to pull hard on the noose and not to be
frightened or moved to set the sun free.

"At last the sun came rising up out of his place like

62 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

a fire spreading far and wide over the mountains and
forests.

He rises up.

His head passes through the noose.

The ropes are pulled tight.

Then the monster began to struggle and roll him-
self about, while the snare jerked backwards and for-
wards as he struggled. Ah! was not he held fast in
the ropes of his enemies.

Then forth rushed that bold hero Maui with his
enchanted weapon. The sun screamed aloud and
roared. Maui struck him fiercely with many blows.
They held him for a long time. At last they let him
go, and then weak from wounds the sun crept very
slowly and feebly along his course."

In this way the days were made longer so that men
could perform their daily tasks and fruits and food
plants could have time to grow.

The legend of the Hervey group of islands says
that Maui made six snares and placed them at inter-
vals along the path over which the sun must pass.
The sun in the form of a man climbed up from Ava-
iki (Hawaiki). Maui pulled the first noose, but it
slipped down the rising sun until it caught and was
pulled tight around his feet.

Maui ran quickly to pull the ropes of the second
snare, but that also slipped down, down, until it was
tightened around the knees. Then Maui hastened to

Hale-a-Ka-la Crater, where the Sun was caught.

MAUI SNARING THE SUN. 53

the third snare, while the sun was trying to rush
along on his journey. The third snare caught around
the hips. The fourth snare fastened itself around the
waist. The fifth slipped under the arms, and yet the
sun sped along as if but little inconvenienced by
Maui's efforts.

Then Maui caught the last noose and threw it
around the neck of the sun, and fastened the rope to
a spur of rock. The sun struggled until nearly
strangled to death and then gave up, promising Maui
that he would go as slowly as was desired. Maui left
the snares fastened to the sun to keep him in con-
stant fear.

"These ropes may still be seen hanging from the
sun at dawn and stretching into the skies when he
descends into the ocean at night. By the assistance
of these ropes he is gently let down into Ava-iki in
the evening, and also raised up out of shadow-land in
the morning. ' '

Another legend from the Society Islands is related
by Mr. Gill:

Maui tried many snares before he could catch the
sun. The sun was the Hercules, or the Samson, of
the heavens. He broke the strong cords of cocoanut
fibre which Maui made and placed around the opening
by which the sun climbed out from the under-world.
Maui made stronger ropes, but still the sun broke
them every one.

54 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

Then Maui thought of his sister's hair, the sister
Inaika, whom he cruelly treated in later years. Her
hair was long and beautiful. He cut off some of it
and made a strong rope. With this he lassoed or
rather snared the sun, and caught him around the
throat. The sun quickly promised to be more thought-
ful of the needs of men and go at a more reasonable
pace across the sky.

A story from the American Indians is told in Ha-
waii's Young People, which is very similar to the
Polynesian legends.

An Indian boy became very angry with the sun for
getting so warm and making his clothes shrink with
the heat. He told his sister to make a snare. The
girl took sinews from a large deer, but they shriveled
under the heat. She took her own long hair and made
snares, but they were burned in a moment. Then
she tried the fibres of various plants and was success-
ful. Her brother took the fibre cord and drew it
through his lips. It stretched and became a strong
red cord. He pulled and it became very long. He
went to the place of sunrise, fixed his snare, and
caught the sun. When the sun had been sufficiently
punished, the animals of the earth studied the problem
of setting the sun free. At last a mouse as large as a
mountain ran and gnawed the red cord. It broke and
the sun moved on, but the poor mouse had been

MAUI SNARING THE SUN. 55

burned and shriveled into the small mouse of the
present day.

A Samoan legend says that a woman living for a
time with the sun bore a child who had the name
" Child of the Sun." She wanted gifts for the child's
marriage, so she took a long vine, climbed a tree, made
the vine into a noose, lassoed the sun, and made him
give her a basket of blessings.

In Fiji, the natives tie the grasses growing on a
hilltop over which they are passing, when traveling
from place to place. They do this to make a snare to
catch the sun if he should try to go down before they
reach the end of their day's journey.

This legend is a misty memory of some time when
the Polynesian people .were in contact with the short
days of the extreme north or south. It is a very re-
markable exposition of a fact of nature perpetuated
many centuries in lands absolutely free from such
natural phenomena.

V.
MAUI FINDING FIRE.

"Grant, oh grant me thy hidden fire,

O Banyan Tree.
Perform an incantation,
Utter a prayer

To the Banyan Tree.
Kindle a fire in the dust

Of the Banyan Tree."
— Translation of ancient Polynesian chant.

HMONG students of mythology certain charac-
ters in the legends of the various nations are
known as " culture heroes." Mankind has
from time to time learned exceedingly useful lessons
and has also usually ascribed the new knowledge to
some noted person in the national mythology. These
mythical benefactors who have brought these prac-
tical benefits to men are placed among the "hero-
gods." They have been teachers or "culture heroes"
to mankind.

MAUI FINDING FIRE. 57

Probably the fire finders of the different nations are
among the best remembered of all these benefactors.
This would naturally be the case, for no greater good
has touched man's physical life than the discovery of
methods of making fire.

Prometheus, the classical fire finder, is most widely
known in literature. But of all the helpful gods of
mythology, Maui, the mischievous Polynesian, is be-
yond question the hero of the largest number of na-
tions scattered over the widest extent of territory.
Prometheus belonged to Rome, but Maui belonged to
the length and breadth of the Pacific Ocean. Theft
or trickery, the use of deceit of some kind, is almost
inseparably connected with fire finding all over the
world. Prometheus stole fire from Jupiter and gave
it to men together with the genius to make use of it
in the arts and sciences. He found the rolling chariot
of the sun, secretly filled his hollow staff with fire,
carried it to earth, put a part in the breast of man to
create enthusiasm or animation, and saved the re-
mainder for the comfort of mankind to be used with
the artist skill of Minerva and Vulcan. In Brittany
the golden or fire-crested wren steals fire and is red-
marked while so doing. The animals of the North
American Indians are represented as stealing fire
sometimes from the cuttle fish and sometimes from
one another. Some swiftly-flying bird or fleet-footed

68 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

coyote would carry the stolen fire to the home of the
tribe.

The possession of fire meant to the ancients all
that wealth means to the family of today. It meant
the possession of comfort. The gods were naturally
determined to keep this wealth in their own hands.
For any one to make a sharp deal and cheat a god
of fire out of a part of this valuable property or to
make a courageous raid upon the fire guardian and
steal the treasure, was easily sufficient to make that
one a "culture hero." As a matter of fact a prehis-
toric family without fire would go to any length in
order to get it. The fire finders would naturally be
the hero-gods and stealing fire would be an exploit
rather than a crime.

It is worth noting that in many myths not only was
fire stolen, but birds marked by red or black spots
among their feathers were associated with the theft.

It would naturally be supposed that the Hawaiians
living in a volcanic country with ever-flowing foun-
tains of lava, would connect their fire myths with some
volcano when relating the story of the origin of fire.
But like the rest of the Polynesians, they found fire
in trees rather than in rivers of melted rock. They
must have brought their fire legends and fire customs
with them when they came to the islands of active
volcanoes.

Flint rocks as fire producers are not found in the

MAUI FINDING FIRE. 59

Hawaiian myths, nor in the stories from the island
groups related to the Hawaiians. Indians might see
the fleeing buffalo strike fire from the stones under
his hard hoofs. The Tartars might have a god to
teach them "the secret of the stone's edge and the
iron's hardness." The Peruvians could very easily
form a legend of their mythical father Guamansuri
finding a way to make fire after he had seen the sling
stones, thrown at his enemies, bring forth sparks of
fire from the rocks against which they struck. The
thunder and the lightning of later years were the
sparks and the crash of stones hurled among the cloud
mountains by the mighty gods.

In Australia the story is told of an old man and his
daughter who lived in great darkness. After a time
the father found the doorway of light through which
the sun passed on his journey. He opened the door
and a flood of sunshine covered the earth. His
daughter looked around her home and saw numbers
of serpents. She seized a staff and began to kill
them. She wielded it so vigorously that it became hot
in her hands. At last it broke, but the pieces rubbed
against each other and flashed into sparks and flames.
Thus it was learned that fire was buried in wood.

Flints were known in Europe and Asia and Amer-
ica, but the Polynesian looked to the banyan and kin-
dred trees for the hidden sparks of fire. The natives
of De Peyster's Island say that their ancestors learned

60 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

how to make fire by seeing smoke rise from crossed
branches rubbing together while trees were shaken
by fierce winds.

In studying the Maui myths of the Pacific it is
necessary to remember that Polynesians use "t" and
"k" without distinguishing them apart, and also as
in the Hawaiian Islands an apostrophe (') is often
used in place of "t" or "k". Therefore the Maui
Ki-i-k-i'i of Hawaii becomes the demi-god Tiki-tiki of
the Gilbert Islands — or the Ti'i-ti'i of Samoa or the
Tikitiki of New Zealand — or other islands of the great
ocean. We must also remember that in the Hawaiian
legends Kalana is Maui's father. This in other groups
becomes Talanga or Kalanga or Karanga. Kanaloa,
the great god of most of the different Polynesians, is
also sometimes called the Father of Maui. It is not
strange that some of the exploits usually ascribed to
Maui should be in some places transferred to his
father under one name or the other. On one or two
groups Mafuia, an ancestress of Maui, is mentioned
as finding the fire. The usual legend makes Maui the
one who takes fire away from Mafuia. The story of
fire finding in Polynesia sifts itself to Maui under one
of his widely-accepted names, or to his father or to
his ancestress — with but very few exceptions. This
fact is important as showing in a very marked man-
ner the race relationship of a vast number of the
islanders of the Pacific world. From the Marshall

MAUI FINDING FIRE. 61

Islands, in the west, to the Society Islands of the
east; from the Hawaiian Islands in the north to the
New Zealand group in the south, the footsteps of
Maui the fire finder can be traced.

The Hawaiian story of fire finding is one of the
least marvelous of all the legends. Hina, Maui's
mother, wanted fish. One morning early Maui saw
that the great storm waves of the sea had died down
and the fishing grounds could be easily reached. He
awakened his brothers and with them hastened to the
beach. This was at Kaupo on the island of Maui.
Out into the gray shadows of the dawn they paddled.
When they were far from shore they began to fish.
But Maui, looking landward, saw a fire on the moun-
tain side.

' ' Behold, ' ' he cried. ' ' There is a fire burning. Whose
can this fire be?"

"Whose, indeed?" his brothers replied.

"Let us hasten to the shore and cook our food,"
said one.

They decided that they had better catch some fish to
cook before they returned. Thus, in the morning, be-
fore the hot sun drove the fish deep down to the dark
recesses of the sea, they fished until a bountiful sup-
ply lay in the bottom of the canoe.

When they came to land, Maui leaped out and ran
up the mountain side to get the fire. For a long, long
time they had been without fire. The great volcano

62 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

Haleakala above them had become extinct — and they
had lost the coals they had tried to keep alive. They
had eaten fruits and uncooked roots and the shell fish
broken from the reef — and sometimes the great raw
fish from the far-out ocean. But now they hoped to
gain living fire and cooked food.

But when Maui rushed up toward the cloudy pillar
of smoke he saw a family of birds scratching the fire
out. Their work was finished and they flew away just
as he reached the place.

Maui and his brothers watched for fire day after
day — but the birds, the curly-tailed Alae (or the mud-
hens) made no fire. Finally the brothers went fishing
once more — but when they looked toward the moun-
tain, again they saw flames and smoke. Thus it hap-
pened to them again and again.

Maui proposed to his brothers that they go fishing
leaving him to watch the birds. But the Alae counted
the fishermen and refused to build a fire for the hidden
one who was watching them. They said among them-
selves, "Three are in the boat and we know not where
the other one is, we will make no fire today."

So the experiment failed again and again. If one
or two remained or if all waited on the land there
would be no fire — but the dawn which saw the four
brothers in the boat, saw also the fire on the land.

Finally Maui rolled some kapa cloth together and
stuck it up in one end of the canoe so that it would

MAUI FINDING FIRE. 63

look like a man. He then concealed himself near the
haunt of the mud-hens, while his brothers went out
fishing. The birds counted the figures in the boat and
then started to build a heap of wood for the fire.

Maui was impatient — and just as the old Alae be-
gan to select sticks with which to make the flames
he leaped swiftly out and caught her and held her
prisoner. He forgot for a moment that he wanted the
secret of fire making. In his anger against the wise
bird his first impulse was to taunt her and then kill
her for hiding the secret of fire.

But the Alae cried out: "If you are the death of
me — my secret will perish also — and you cannot have
fire."

Maui then promised to spare her life if she would
tell him what to do.

Then came the contest of wits. The bird told the
demi-god to rub the stalks of water plants together.
He guarded the bird and tried the plants. Water in-
stead of fire ran out of the twisted stems. Then she
told him to rub reeds together — but they bent and
broke and could make no fire. He twisted her neck
until she was half dead — then she cried out: "I have
hidden the fire in a green stick."

Maui worked hard, but not a spark of fire appeared.
Again he caught his prisoner by the head and wrung
her neck, and she named a kind of dry wood. Maui
rubbed the sticks together, but they only became warm.

64 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

The neck twisting process was resumed — and repeated
again and again, until the mud-hen was almost dead
— and Maui had tried tree after tree. At last Maui
found fire. Then as the flames rose he said: "There
is one more thing to rub." He took a fire stick and
rubbed the top of the head of his prisoner until the
feathers fell off and the raw flesh appeared. Thus
the Hawaiian mud-hen and her descendants have ever
since had bald heads, and the Hawaiians have had the
secret of fire making.

Another Hawaiian legend places the scene of Maui's
contest with the mud-hens a little inland of the town
of Hilo on the Island of Hawaii. There are three
small extinct craters very near each other known as
The Halae Hills. One, the southern or Puna side of
the hills, is a place called Pohaku-nui. Here dwelt
two brother birds of the Alae family. They were gods.
One had the power of fire making. Here at Pohaku-
nui they were accustomed to kindle a fire and bake
their dearly loved food — baked bananas. Here Maui
planned to learn the secret of fire. The birds had
kindled the fire and the bananas were almost done,
when the elder Alae called to the younger: "Be quick,
here comes the swift son of Hina."

The birds scratched out the fire, caught the bananas
and fled. Maui told his mother he would follow them
until he learned the secret of fire. His mother en-
couraged him because he was very strong and very

MAUI FINDING FIRE. 65

swift. So he followed the birds from place to place
as they fled from him, finding new spots on which to
make their fires. At last they came to Waianae on
the island Oahu. There he saw a great fire and a
multitude of birds gathered around it, chattering
loudly and trying to hasten the baking of the bananas.
Their incantation was this: "Let us cook quick."
"Let us cook quick." "The swift child of Hina will
come. ' '

Maui's mother Hina had taught him how to know
the fire-maker. "If you go up to the fire, you will
find many birds. Only one is the guardian. This is
the small, young Alae. His name is Alae-iki: Only
this one knows how to make fire." So whenever
Maui came near to the fire-makers he always sought
for the little Alae. Sometimes he made mistakes and
sometimes almost captured the one he desired. At
Waianae he leaped suddenly among the birds. They
scattered the fire, and the younger bird tried
to snatch his banana from the coals and flee,
but Maui seized him and began to twist his
neck. The bird cried out, warning Maui not to
kill him or he would lose the secret of fire altogether.
Maui was told that the fire was made from a banana
stump. He saw the bananas roasting and thought
this was reasonable. So, according to directions, he
began to rub together pieces of the banana. The bird
hoped for an unguarded moment when he might es-

66 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

cape, but Maui was very watchful and was also very
angry when he found that rubbing only resulted in
squeezing out juice. Then he twisted the neck of the
bird and was told to rub the stem of the taro plant.
This also was so green that it only produced water.
Then he was so angry that he nearly rubbed the head
of the bird off — and the bird, fearing for its life, told
the truth and taught Maui how to find the wood in
which fire dwelt.

They learned to draw out the sparks secreted in dif-
ferent kinds of trees. The sweet sandalwood was one
of these fire trees. Its Hawaiian name is "Ili-ahi" —
the "ili" (bark) and "ahi" (fire), the bark in which
fire is concealed.

A legend of the Society Islands is somewhat similar.
Ina (Hina) promised to aid Maui in finding fire for
the islanders. She sent him into the under-world to
find Tangaroa (Kanaloa). This god Tangaroa held
fire in his possession — Maui was to know him by his
tattooed face. Down the dark path through the long
caves Maui trod swiftly until he found the god. Maui
asked him for fire to take up to men. The god gave
him a lighted stick and sent him away. But Maui
put the fire out and went back again after fire. This
he did several times, until the wearied giver decided
to teach the intruder the art of fire making. He called
a white duck to aid him. Then, taking two sticks of
dry wood, he gave the under one to the bird and

MAUI FINDING FIRE. 67

rapidly moved the upper stick across the under until
fire came. Maui seized the upper stick, after it had
been charred in the flame, and burned the head of the
bird back of each eye. Thus were made the black
spots which mark the head of the white duck. Then
arose a quarrel between Tangaroa and Maui — but
Maui struck down the god, and, thinking he had killed
him, carried away the art of making fire. His father
and mother made inquiries about their relative — Maui
hastened back to the fire fountain and made the spirit
return to the body — then, coming back to Ina, he bade
her good bye and carried the fire sticks to the upper-
world. The Hawaiians, and probably others among
the Polynesians, felt that any state of unconsciousness
was a form of death in which the spirit left the body,
but was called back by prayers and incantations.
Therefore, when Maui restored the god to conscious-
ness, he was supposed to have made the spirit released
by death return into the body and bring it back to
life.

In the Samoan legends as related by G. Turner, the
name Ti'iti'i is used. This is the same as the second
name found in Maui Ki'i-ki'i. The Samoan legend
of Ti'iti'i is almost identical with the New Zealand
fire myth of Maui, and is very similar to the story
coming from the Hervey Islands, from Savage
Island, and also from the Tokelau and other island
groups. The Samoan story says that the home of

08 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

Mafuie the earthquake god was in the land of perpetual
fire. Haul's or Ti'iti'i's father Talanga (Kalana) was
also a resident of the under-world and a great friend of
the earthquake god.

Ti'iti'i watched his father as he left his home in the
upper-world. Talanga approached a perpendicular
wall of rock, said some prayer or incantation — and
passed through a door which immediately closed after
him. (This is a very near approach to the "open
sesame" of the Arabian Nights stories.)

Ti'iti'i went to the rock, but could not find the way
through. He determined to conceal himself the next
time so near that he could hear his father's words.

After some days he was able to catch all the words
uttered by his father as he knocked on the stone
door —

"O rock! divide.
I am Talanga,
I come to work
On my land
Given by Mafuie."

Ti'iti'i went to the perpendicular wall and imitating
his father's voice called for a rock to open. Down
through a cave he passed until he found his father
working in the under-world.

The astonished father, learning how his son came,
bade him keep very quiet and work lest he arouse the

MAUI FINDING FIRE. 69

anger of Mafuie. So for a time the boy labored obedi-
ently by his father's side.

In a little while the boy saw smoke and asked what
it was. The father told him that it was the smoke
from the fire of Mafuie, and explained what fire
would do.

The boy determined to get some fire — he went to
the place from which the smoke arose and there found
the god, and asked him for fire. Mafuie gave him fire
to carry to his father. The boy quickly had an oven
prepared and the fire placed in it to cook some of the
taro they had been cultivating. Just as everything
was ready an earthquake god came up and blew the
fire out and scattered the stones of the oven.

Then Ti'iti'i was angry and began to talk to Ma-
fuie. The god attacked the boy, intending to punish
him severely for daring to rebel against the destruc-
tion of the fire.

What a battle there was for a time in the under-
world! At last Ti'iti'i seized one of the arms of Ma-
fuie and broke it off. He caught the other arm and
began to twist and bend it.

Mafuie begged the boy to spare him. His right arm
was gone. How could he govern the earthquakes if
his left arm were torn off also? It was his duty to
hold Samoa level and not permit too many earth-
quakes. It would be hard to do that even with one

70 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

arm — but it would be impossible if both arms were
gone.

Ti'iti'i listened to the plea and demanded a reward
if he should spare the left arm. Mafuie offered Ti'iti'i
one hundred wives. The boy did not want them.

Then the god offered to teach him the secret of fire
finding to take to the upper-world.

The boy agreed to accept the fire secret, and thus
learned that the gods in making the earth had con-
cealed fire in various trees for men to discover in their
own good time, and that this fire could be brought out
by rubbing pieces of wood together.

The people of Samoa have not had much faith in
Mafuie 's plea that he needed his left arm in order to
keep Samoa level. They say that Mafuie has a long
stick or handle to the world under the islands — and
when he is angry or wishes to frighten them he moves
this handle and easily shakes the islands. When an
earthquake comes, they give thanks to Ti'iti'i for break-
ing off one arm — because if the god had two arms they
believe he would shake them unmercifully.

One legend of the Hervey Islands says that Maui and
his brothers had been living on uncooked food — but
learned that their mother sometimes had delicious food
which had been cooked. They learned also that fire
was needed in order to cook their food. Then Maui
wanted fire and watched his mother.

Maui's mother was the guardian of the way to the

MAUI FINDING FIRE. 71

invisible world. When she desired to pass from her
home to the other world, she would open a black rock
and pass inside. Thus she went to Hawaiki, the under-
world. Maui planned to follow her, but first studied
the forms of birds that he might assume the body of
the strongest and most enduring. After a time he
took the shape of a pigeon and, flying to the black
rock, passed through the door and flew down the long
dark passage-way.

After a time he found the god of fire living in a
bunch of banyan sticks. He changed himself into the
form of a man and demanded the secret of fire.

The fire-god agreed to give Maui fire if he would
permit himself to be tossed into the sky by the god's
strong arms.

Maui agreed on condition that he should have the
right to toss the fire-god afterwards.

The fire-god felt certain that there would be only
one exercise of strength — he felt that he had every-
thing in his own hands — so readily agreed to the toss-
ing contest. It was his intention to throw his opponent
so high that when he fell, if he ever did fall, there
would be no antagonist uncrushed.

He seized Maui in his strong arms and, swinging
him back and forth, flung him upward — but the mo-
ment Maui left his hands he changed himself into a
feather and floated softly to the ground.

Then the boy ran swiftly to the god and seized him

72 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

by the legs and lifted him up. Then he began to in-
crease in size and strength until he had lifted the fire
god very high. Suddenly he tossed the god upward
and caught him as he fell — again and again — until
the bruised and dizzy god cried enough, and agreed to
give the victor whatever he demanded.

Maui asked for the secret of fire producing. The
god taught him how to rub the dry sticks of certain
kinds of trees together, and, by friction, produce fire,
and especially how fire could be produced by rubbing
fire sticks in the fine dust of the banyan tree.

A Society Island legend says Maui borrowed a sa-
cred red pigeon, belonging to one of the gods, and,
changing himself into a dragon fly, rode this pigeon
through a black rock into Avaiki (Hawaiki), the fire-
land of the under-world. He found the god of fire,
Mau-ika, living in a house built from a banyan tree.
Mau-ika taught Maui the kinds of wood into which
when fire went out on the earth a fire goddess had
thrown sparks in order to preserve fire. Among these
were the "au" (Hawaiian hau), or "the lemon hibis-
cus"—the "argenta," the "fig" and the "banyan."
She taught him also how to make fire by swift motion
when rubbing the sticks of these trees. She also gave
him coals for his present need.

But Maui was viciously mischievous and set the
banyan house on fire, then mounted his pigeon and
fled toward the upper-world. But the flames hastened

MAUI FINDING FIRE. 73

after him and burst out through the rock doors into
the sunlit land above — as if it were a volcanic erup-
tion.

The Tokelau Islanders say that Talanga (Kalana)
known in other groups of islands as the father of
Maui, desired fire in order to secure warmth and cooked
food. He went down, down, very far down in the
caves of the earth. In the lower world he found Ma-
fuika — an old blind woman, who was the guardian of
fire. He told her he wanted fire to take back to men.
She refused either to give fire or to teach how to make
it. Talanga threatened to kill her, and finally per-
suaded her to teach how to make fire in any place he
might dwell — and the proper trees to use, the fire-
yielding trees. She also taught him how to cook food
— and also the kind of fish he should cook, and the
kinds which should be eaten raw. Thus mankind learn-
ed about food as well as fire.

The Savage Island legend adds the element of dan-
ger to Maui's mischievous theft of fire. The lad fol-
lowed his father one day and saw him pull up a bunch
of reeds and go down into the fire-land beneath. Maui
hastened down to see what his father was doing. Soon
he saw his opportunity to steal the secret of fire. Then
he caught some fire and started for the upper-
world.

His father caught a glimpse of the young thief and
tried to stop him.

74 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

Maui ran up the passage through the black cave —
bushes and trees bordered his road.

The father hastened after his son and was almost
ready to lay hands upon him, when Maui set fire to
the bushes. The flames spread rapidly, catching the
underbrush and the trees on all sides and burst out in
the face of the pursuer. Destruction threatened the
under-world, but Maui sped along his way. Then he
saw that the fire was chasing him. Bush after bush
leaped into flame and hurled sparks and smoke and
burning air after him. Choked and smoke-surrounded,
he broke through the door of the cavern and found
the fresh air of the world. But the flames followed
him and swept out in great power upon the upper-
world a mighty volcanic eruption.

The New Zealand legends picture Maui as putting
out, in one night, all the fires of his people. This
was serious mischief, and Maui's mother decided that
he should go to the under-world and see his ancestress,
Mahuika, the guardian of fire, and get new fire to re-
pair the injury he had wrought. She warned him
against attempting to play tricks upon the inhabitants
of the lower regions.

Maui gladly hastened down the cave-path to the
house of Mahuika, and asked for fire for the upper-
world. In some way he pleased her so that she pulled
off a finger nail in which fire was burning and gave
it to him. As soon as he had gone back to a place

Hawaiian Vines and Bushes.

MAUI FINDING FIKE. 75

where there was water, he put the fire out and re-
turned to Mahuika, asking another gift, which he de-
stroyed. This he did for both hands and feet until
only one nail remained. Maui wanted this. Then
Mahuika became angry and threw the last finger nail
on the ground. Fire poured out and laid hold of
everything. Maui ran up the path to the upper-world, -
but the fire was swifter-footed. Then Maui changed
himself into an eagle and flew high up into the air,
but the fire and smoke still followed him. Then he
saw water and dashed into it, but it was too hot.
Around him the forests were blazing, the earth burn-
ing and the sea boiling. Maui, about to perish, called
on the gods for rain. Then floods of water fell and
the fire was checked. The great rain fell on Mahuika
and she fled, almost drowned. Her stores of fire were
destroyed, quenched by the storm. But in order to
save fire for the use of men, as she fled she threw
sparks into different kinds of trees where the rain could
not reach them, so that when fire was needed it might
be brought into the world again by rubbing together
the fire sticks.

The Chatham Islanders give the following incanta-
tion, which they said was used by Maui against the
fierce flood of fire which was pursuing him:

78 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

"To the roaring thunder;
To the great rain — the long rain;
To the drizzling rain — the small rain;
To the rain pattering on the leaves.
These are the storms — the storms
Cause them to fall;
To pour in torrents."

The legend of Savage Island places Maui in the
role of fire-maker. He has stolen fire in the under-
world. His father tries to catch him, but Maui sets
fire to the bushes by the path until a great conflagra-
tion is raging which pursues him to the upper-world.

Some legends make Maui the fire-teacher as well
as the fire-finder. He teaches men how to use hard-
wood sticks in the fine dry dust on the bark of cer-
tain trees, or how to use the fine fibre of the palm
tree to catch sparks.

In Tahiti the fire god lived in the "Hale — a-o-a," or
House of the Banyan. Sometimes human sacrifices were
placed upon the sacred branches of this tree of the
fire god.

In the Bowditch or Fakaofa Islands the goddess of
fire when conquered taught not only the method of
making fire by friction but also what fish were to be
cooked and what were to be eaten raw.

Thus some of the myths of Maui, the mischievous,
finding fire are told by the side of the inrolling surf,

MAUI FINDING FIRE. 77

while natives of many islands, around their poi bowls,
rest in the shade of the far-reaching boughs and
thick foliage of the banyan and other fire-producing
trees.

VI.

MAUI THE SKILFUL.

HCCOKDING to the New Zealand legends there
were six Mauis — the Hawaiians counted four.
They were a band of brothers. The older five
were known as "the forgetful Mauis." The tricky and
quick-witted youngest member of the family was called
Maui te atamai — "Maui the skilful."

He was curiously accounted for in the New Zealand
under-world. When he went down through the long
cave to his ancestor's home to find fire, he was soon
talked about. "Perhaps this is the man about whom
so much is said in the upper- world. " His ancestress
from whom he obtained fire recognized him as the
man called "the deceitful Maui." Even his parents
told him once, "We know you are a tricky fellow —
more so than any other man." One of the New Zea-
land fire legends while recording his flight to the under-
world and his appearance as a bird, says: "The men
tried to spear him, and to catch him in nets. At last

MAUI THE SKILFUL. 79

they cried out, 'Maybe you are the man whose fame is
great in the upper- world. ' At once he leaped to the
ground and appeared in the form of a man."

He was not famous for inventions, but he was al-
ways ready to improve upon anything which was al-
ready in existence. He could take the sun in hand
and make it do better work. He could tie the moon
so that it had to swim back around the island to the
place in the ocean from which it might rise again, and
go slowly through the night.

His brothers invented a slender, straight and smooth
spear with which to kill birds. He saw the fluttering,
struggling birds twist themselves off the smooth point
and escape. He made a good light bird spear and put
notches in it and kept most of the birds stuck. His
brothers finally examined his spear and learned the rea-
son for its superiority. In the same way they learned
how to spear fish. They could strike and wound and
sometimes kill — but they could not with their smooth
spears draw the fish from the waters of the coral caves.
But Maui the youngest made barbs, so that the fish
could not easily shake themselves loose. The others
soon made their spears like his.

The brothers were said to have invented baskets in
which to trap eels, but many eels escaped. Maui im-
proved the basket by secretly making an inside parti-
tion as well as a cover, and the eels were securely
trapped. It took the brothers a long time to learn

80 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

the real difference between their baskets and his. One
of the family made a basket like his and caught many
eels. Then Maui became angry and chanted a curse
over him and bewildered him, then changed him into a
dog.

The Manahiki Islanders have the legend that Maui
made the moon, but could not get good light from it.
He tried experiments and found that the sun was quite
an improvement. The sun's example stimulated the
moon to shine brighter.

Once Maui became interested in tattooing and tried
to make a dog look better by placing dark lines around
the mouth. The legends say that one of the sacred
birds saw the pattern and then marked the sky with
the red lines sometimes seen at sunrise and sunset.
An Hawaiian legend says that Maui tattooed his arm
with a sacred name and thus that arm was strong
enough to hold the sun when he lassoed it. There is
a New Zealand legend in which Maui is made one of
three gods who first created man and then woman from
one of the man's ribs.

The Hawaiians dwelling in Hilo have many stories
of Maui. They say that his home was on the north-
ern bank of the Wailuku Eiver. He had a strong
staff made from an ohia tree (the native apple tree).
With this he punched holes through the lava, making
natural bridges and boiling pools, and new channels
for its sometimes obstructed waters, so that the people

MAUI THE SKILFUL. 81

could go up or down the river more easily. Near one
of the natural bridges is a figure of the moon carved
in the rocks, referred by some of the natives to Maui.

Maui is said to have taught his brothers the differ-
ent kinds of fish nets and the use of the strong fibre
of the olona, which was much better than cocoanut
threads.

The New Zealand stories relate the spear-throwing
contests of Maui and his brothers. As children, how-
ever, they were not allowed the use of wooden spears.
They took the stems of long, heavy reeds and threw
them at each other, but Maui's reeds were charmed
into stronger and harder fibre so that he broke his
mother's house and made her recognize him as one
of her children. He had been taken away as soon
as he was born by the gods to whom he was related.
When he found his way back home his mother paid
no attention to him. Thus by a spear thrust he won a
home.

The brothers all made fish hooks, but Maui the
youngest made two kinds of hooks — one like his
brothers' and one with a sharp barb. His brothers'
hooks were smooth so that it was difficult to keep
the fish from floundering and shaking themselves off,
but they noticed that the fish were held by Maui's
hook better than by theirs. Maui was not inclined to
devote himself to hard work, and lived on his brothers
as much as possible — but when driven out by his

82 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

wife or his mother he would catch more fish than the
other fishermen. They tried to examine his hooks,
but he always changed his hooks so that they could
not see any difference between his and theirs. At
such times they called him the mischievous one and
tried to leave him behind while they went fishing.
They were, however, always ready to give him credit
for his improvements. They dealt generously with
him when they learned what he had really accom-
plished. When they caught him with his barbed hook
they forgot the past and called him "ke atamai" — the
skilful.

The idea that fish hooks made from the jawbones
of human beings were better than others, seemed to
have arisen at first from the angle formed in the lower
jawbone. Later these human fish hooks were con-
sidered sacred and therefore possessed of magic
powers. The greater sanctity and power belonged to
the bones which bore more especial relation to the
owner. Therefore Maui's "magic hook," with which
he fished up islands, was made from the jawbone of
his ancestress Mahuika. It is also said that in order
to have powerful hooks for every-day fishing he killed
two of his children. Their right eyes he threw up
into the sky to become stars. One became the morn-
ing and the other the evening star.

The idea that the death of any members of
the family must not stand in the way of obtaining
magical power, has prevailed throughout Polynesia.

MAUI THE SKILFUL. 83

From this angle in the jawbone Maui must have
conceived the idea of making a hook with a piece of
bone or shell which should be fastened to the large
bone at a very sharp angle, thus making a kind of
barb. Hooks like this have been made for ages among
the Polynesians.

Maui and his brothers went fishing for eels with
bait strung on the flexible rib of a cocoanut leaf. The
stupid brothers did not fasten the ends of the string.
Therefore the eels easily slipped the bait off and es-
caped. But Maui made the ends of his string fast,
and captured many eels.

The little things which others did not think about
were the foundation of Maui's fame. Upon these little
things he built his courage to snare the sun and seek
fire for mankind.

In a New Zealand legend, quoted by Edward Tre-
gear, Maui is called Maui-mata-waru, or "Maui with
eyes eight." This eight-eyed Maui would be allied to
the Hindoo deities who with their eight eyes face the
four quarters of the world — thus possessing both in-
sight into the affairs of men and foresight into the
future.

Fornander, the Hawaiian ethnologist, says: "In
Hawaiian mythology, Kamapuaa, the demi-god oppo-
nent of the goddess Pele, is described as having eight
eyes and eight feet; and in the legends Maka-walu,

84 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

'eight-eyed,' is a frequent epithet of gods and chiefs."
He notes this coincidence with the appearance of some
of the principal Hindoo deities as having some bearing
upon the origin of the Polynesians. It may be that a
comparative study of the legends of other islands of
the Pacific by some student will open up other new
and important facts.

In Tahiti, on the island Raiatea, a high priest or
prophet lived in the long, long ago. He was known
as Maui the prophet of Tahiti. He was probably not
Maui the demi-god. Nevertheless he was represented
as possessing very strange prophetical powers.

According to the historian Ellis, who previous to
1830 spent eight years in the Society and Hawaiian
Islands, this prophet Maui clearly prophesied the
coming of an outriggerless canoe from some foreign
land. An outrigger is a log which so balances a
canoe that it can ride safely through the treacherous
surf.

The chiefs and prophets charged him with stating
the impossible.

He took his wooden calabash and placed it in a pool
of water as an illustration of the way such a boat
should float.

Then with the floating bowl before him he uttered
the second prophecy, that boats without line to tie the
sails to the masts, or the masts to the ships, should
also come to Tahiti.

Hawaiian Bathing Pool.

MAUI THE SKILFUL. 85

When English ships under Captain Wallis and Cap-
tain Cook, in the latter part of the eighteenth century,
visited these islands, the natives cried out, "0 the
canoes of Maui — the outriggerless canoes."

Passenger steamships, and the men-of-war from the
great nations, have taught the Tahitians that boats with-
out sails and masts can cross the great ocean, and again
they have recurred to the words of the prophet Maui,
and have exclaimed, "0 the boats without sails and
masts." This rather remarkable prophecy could easily
have occurred to Maui as he saw a wooden calabash
floating over rough waters.

Maui's improvement upon nature's plan in regard
to certain birds is also given in the legends as a proof
of his supernatural powers.

White relates the story as follows: "Maui re-
quested some birds to go and fetch water for him. The
first one would not obey, so he threw it into the water.
He requested another bird to go — and it refused, so
he threw it into the fire, and its feathers were burnt.
But the next bird obeyed, but could not carry the
water, and he rewarded it by making the feathers of
the fore part of its head white. Then he asked an-
other bird to go, and it filled its ears with water and
brought it to Maui, who drank, and then pulled the
bird's legs and made them long in payment for its
act of kindness."

Diffenbach says: "Maui, the Adam of New Zealand,

86 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

left the cat's cradle to the New Zealanders as an in
heritance." The name "Whai" was given to the game.
It exhibited the various steps of creation according
to Maori mythology. Every change in the cradle shows
some act in creation. Its various stages were called
"houses." Diffenbach says again: "In this game of
Maui they are great proficients. It is a game like that
called cat's cradle in Europe. It is intimately con-
nected with their ancient traditions and in the differ-
ent figures which the cord is made to assume whilst
held on both hands, the outline of their different varie-
ties of houses, canoes or figures of men and women
are imagined to be represented." One writer connects
this game with witchcraft, and says it was brought
from the under-world. Some parts of the puzzle show
the adventures of Maui, especially his attempt to win
immortality for men.

In New Zealand it was said Maui found a large, fine-
grained stone block, broke it in pieces, and from the
fragments learned how to fashion stone implements.

White also tells the New Zealand legend of Maui and
the winds.

"Maui caught and held all the winds save the west
wind. He put each wind into a cave, so that it might
not blow. He sought in vain for the west wind, but
could not find from whence it came. If he had found
the cave in which it stayed he would have closed the
entrance to that cave with rocks. When the west

MAUI THE SKILFUL. 87

wind blows lightly it is because Maui has got near to
it, and has nearly caught it, and it has gone into its
home, the cave, to escape him. When the winds of
the south, east, and north blow furiously it is because
the rocks have been removed by the stupid people
who could not learn the lessons taught by Maui. At
other times Maui allows these winds to blow in hur-
ricanes to punish that people, and also that he may
ride on these furious winds in search of the west
wind."

In the Hawaiian legends Maui is represented as
greatly interested in making and flying kites. His
favorite place for the sport was by the boiling pools
of the Wailuku river near Hilo. He had the winds
under his control and would call for them to push his
kites in the direction he wished. His incantation call-
ing up the winds is given in this Maui proverb —

"Strong wind come,
Soft wind come."

White in his "Ancient History of the Maoris," re-
lates some of Maui's experiences with the people whom
he found on the islands brought up from the under-
world. On one island he found a sand house with eight
hundred gods living in it. Apparently Maui discovered
islands with inhabitants, and was reported to have
fished them up out of the depths of the ocean. Fishing

88 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

was sailing over the ocean until distant lands were
drawn near or "fished up."

Maui walked over the islands and found men living
on them and fires burning near their homes. He evi-
dently did not know much about fire, for he took it in
his hands. He was badly burned and rushed into the
sea. Down he dived under the cooling waters and came
up with one of the New Zealand islands on his shoul-
ders. But his hands were still burning, so wherever he
held the island it was set on fire.

These fires are still burning in the secret recesses
of the volcanoes, and sometimes burst out in flowing
lava. Then Maui paid attention to the people whom
he had fished up. He tried to teach them, but they
did not learn as he thought they should. He quickly
became angry and said, "It is a waste of light for the
sun to shine on such stupid people." So he tried to
hold his hands between them and the sun, but the rays
of the sun were too many and too strong; therefore,
he could not shut them out. Then he tried the moon
and managed to make it dark a part of the time each
month. In this way he made a little trouble for the
stupid people.

There are other hints in the legends concerning
Maui's desire to be revenged upon any one who in-
curred his displeasure. It was said that Maui for a
time lived in the heavens above the earth. Here he

MAUI THE SKILFUL. 8»

had a foster brother Maru. The two were cultivating
the fields. Maru sent a snowstorm over Maui's field.
(It would seem as if this might be a Polynesian mem-
ory of a cold land where their ancestors knew the
cold winter, or a lesson learned from the snow-caps
of high mountains.) At any rate, the snow blighted
Maui's crops. Maui retaliated by praying for rain
to destroy Maru's fields. But Maru managed to save
a part of his crops. Other legends make Maui the
aggressor. At the last, however, Maui became very
angry. The foster parents tried to soothe the two men
by saying, "Live in peace with each other and do not
destroy each other's food." But Maui was implacable
and lay in wait for his foster brother, who was in the
habit of carrying fruit and grass as an offering to
the gods of a temple situated on the summit of a hill.
Here Maui killed Maru and then went away to the
earth.

This legend is told by three or four different tribes
of New Zealand and is very similar to the Hebrew
story of Cain and Abel. At this late day it is difficult
to say definitely whether or not it owes its origin to
the early touch of Christianity upon New Zealand when
white men first began to live with the natives. It is
somewhat similar to stories found in the Tonga Islands
and also in the Hawaiian group, where a son of the
first gods, or rather of the first men, kills a brother.
In each case there is the shadow of the Biblical idea. It

90 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

seems safe to infer that such legends are not entirely
drawn from contact with Christian civilization. The
natives claim that these stories are very ancient, and
that their fathers knew them before the white men
sailed on the Pacific.

VII.
MAUI AND TUNA.

WHEN Maui returned from the voyages in which
he discovered or "fished up" from the ocean
depths new islands, he gave deep thought to
the things he had found. As the islands appeared to
come out of the water he saw they were inhabited.
There were houses and stages for drying and preserv-
ing food. He was greeted by barking dogs. Fires
were burning, food cooking and people working. He
evidently had gone so far away from home that a
strange people was found. The legend which speaks
of the death of his brothers, "eaten" by the great
fish drawn up from the floor of the sea, may very
easily mean that the new people killed and ate the
brothers.

Maui apparently learned some new lessons, for on
his return he quickly established a home of his own,
and determined to live after the fashion of the families
in the new islands.

Maui sought Hina-a-te-lepo, ''daughter of the

92 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

swamp," and secured her as his wife. The New Zea-
land tribes tell legends which vary in different locali-
ties about this woman Hina. She sometimes bore the
name Rau-kura — "The red plume."

She cared for his thatched house as any other Poly-
nesian woman was in the habit of doing. She at-
tempted the hurried task of cooking his food before
he snared the sun and gave her sufficient daylight for
her labors.

They lived near the bank of a river from which Hina
was in the habit of bringing water for the household
needs.

One day she went down to the stream with her cala-
bash. She was entwined with wreaths of leaves and
flowers, as was the custom among Polynesian women.
While she was standing on the bank, Tuna-roa, "the
long eel," saw her. He swam up to the bank and
suddenly struck her and knocked her into the water
and covered her with slime from the blow given by
his tail.

Hina escaped and returned to her home, saying
nothing to Maui about the trouble. But the next day,
while getting water, she was again overthrown and
befouled by the slime of Tuna-roa.

Then Hina became angry and reported the trouble
to Maui.

Maui decided to punish the long eel and started out
to find his hiding place. Some of the New Zealand

MAUI AND TUNA. 93

legends as collected by White, state that Tuna-roa was
a very smooth-skinned chief, who lived on the opposite
bank of the stream, and, seeing Hina, had insulted
her.

When Mam saw this chief, he caught two pieces of
wood over which he was accustomed to slide his canoe
into the sea. These he carried to the stream and laid
them from bank to bank as a bridge over which he might
entice Tuna-roa to cross.

Maui took his stone axe, Ma-Tori-Tori, "the
severer," and concealed himself near the bank of the
river.

When "the long eel" had crossed the stream, Maui
rushed out and killed him with a mighty blow of the
stone axe, cutting the head from the body.

Other legends say that Maui found Tuna-roa living
as an eel in a deep water hole, in a swamp on the sea-
coast of Tata-a, part of the island Ao-tea-roa. Other
stories located Tuna-roa in the river near Maui's
home.

Maui saw that he could not get at his enemy with-
out letting off the water which protected him.

Therefore into the forest went Maui, and with sa-
cred ceremonies, selected trees from the wood of which
he prepared tools and weapons.

Meanwhile, in addition to the insult given to Hina,
Tuna-roa had caught and devoured two of Maui's

94 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

children, which made Maui more determined to kill
him.

Maui made the narrow spade (named by the Maoris
of New Zealand the "ko," and by the Hawaiians
"o-o") and the sharp spears, with which to pierce
either the earth or his enemy. These spears and
spades were consecrated to the work of preparing a
ditch by which to draw off the water protecting "the
long eel."

The work of trench-making was accomplished with
many incantations and prayers. The ditch was named
"The sacred digging," and was tabooed to all other
purposes except that of catching Tuna-roa.

Across this ditch Maui stretched a strong net, and
then began a new series of chants and ceremonies to
bring down an abundance of rain. Soon the flood
came and the overflowing waters rushed down the sa-
cred ditch. The walls of the deep pool gave way and
"the long eel" was carried down the trench into the
waiting net. Then there was commotion. Tuna-roa
was struggling for freedom.

Maui saw him and hastened to grasp his stone axe,
"the severer." Hurrying to the net, he struck Tuna-
roa a terrible blow, and cut off the head. With a few
more blows, he cut the body in pieces. The head and
tail were carried out into the sea. The head became
fish and the tail became the great conger-eel. Other
parts of the body became sea monsters. But some parts

MAUI AND TUNA. 95

which fell in fresh water became the common eels. From
the hairs of the head came certain vines and creepers
among the plants.

After the death of Tuna-roa the offspring of Maui
were in no danger of being killed and soon multiplied
into a large family.

Another New Zealand legend related by White says
that Maui built a sliding place of logs, over which
Tuna-roa must pass when coming from the river.

Maui also made a screen behind which he could se-
crete himself while watching for Tuna-roa.

He commanded Hina to come down to the river and
wait on the bank to attract Tuna-roa. Soon the long
eel was seen in the water swimming near to Hina.
Hina went to a place back of the logs which Maui had
laid down.

Tuna-roa came towards her, and began to slide down
the skids.

Maui sprang out from his hiding place and killed
Tuna-roa with his axe, and cut him in pieces.

The tail became the conger-eel. Parts of his body
became fresh-water eels. Some of the blood fell upon
birds and always after marked them with red spots.
Some of the blood was thrown into certain trees, mak-
ing this wood always red. The muscles became vines
and creepers.

From this time the children of Maui caught and ate
the eels of both salt and fresh water. Eel traps were

96 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

made, and Maui taught the people the proper chants
or incantations to use when catching eels.

This legend of Maui and the long eel was found by
White in a number of forms among the different tribes
of New Zealand, but does not seem to have had cur-
rency in many other island groups.

In Turner's "Samoa" a legend is related which was
probably derived from the Maui stories and yet differs
in its romantic results. The Samoans say that among
their ancient ones dwelt a woman named Sina. Sina
among the Polynesians is the same as Hina — the "h"
is softened into "s". She captured a small eel and
kept it as a pet. It grew large and strong and finally
attacked and bit her. She fled, but the eel followed her
everywhere. Her father came to her assistance and
raised high mountains between the eel and herself.
But the eel passed over the barrier and pursued her.
Her mother raised a new series of mountains. But
again the eel surmounted the difficulties and attempt-
ed to seize Sina. She broke away from him and ran
on and on. Finally she wearily passed through a vil-
lage. The people asked her to stay and eat with them,
but she said they could only help her by delivering
her from the pursuing eel. The inhabitants of that
village were afraid of the eel and refused to fight for
her. So she ran on to another place. Here the chief
offered her a drink of water and promised to kill the
eel for her. He prepared awa, a stupefying drink, and

A Coconut Grove in Kona.

MAUI AND TUNA. 97

put poison in it. When the eel came along the chief
asked him to drink. He took the awa and prepared
to follow Sina. When he came to the place where she
was the pains of death had already seized him. While
dying he begged her to bury his head by her home.
This she did, and in time a plant new to the islands
sprang up. It became a tree, and finally produced a
cocoanut, whose two eyes could continually look into
the face of Sina.

Tuna, in the legends of Fiji, was a demon of the
sea. He lived in a deep sea cave, into which he some-
times shut himself behind closed doors of coral. When
he was hungry, he swam through the ocean shadows,
always watching the restless surface. When a canoe
passed above him, he would throw himself swiftly
through the waters, upset the canoe, and seize some
of the boatmen and devour them. He was greatly
feared by all the fishermen of the Fijian coasts.

Roko — a mo-o or dragon god — in his journey among
the islands, stopped at a village by the sea and asked
for a canoe and boatmen. The people said: "We
have nothing but a very old canoe out there by the
water." He went to it and found it in a very bad con-
dition. He put it in the water, and decided that he
could use it. Then he asked two men to go with him
and paddle, but they refused because of fear, and ex-
plained this fear by telling the story of the water
demon, who continually sought the destruction of this

98 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

canoe, and also their own death. Roko encouraged
them to take him to wage battle with Tuna, telling
them he would destroy the monster. They paddled
until they were directly over Tuna's cave. Roko told
them to go off to one side and wait and watch, saying:
"I am going down to see this Tuna. If you see red
blood boil up through the water, you may be sure that
Tuna has been killed. If the blood is black, then you
will know that he has the victory and I am dead."

Roko leaped into the water and went down — down
to the door of the cave. The coral doors were closed.
He grasped them in his strong hands and tore them
open, breaking them in pieces. Inside he found cave
after cave of coral, and broke his way through until
at last he awoke Tuna. The angry demon cried: "Who
is that?" Roko answered: "It is I, Roko, alone. "Who
are you?"

Tuna aroused himself and demanded Roko's busi-
ness and who guided him to that place. Roko replied:
"No one has guided me. I go from place to place,
thinking that there is no one else in the world."

Tuna shook himself angrily. "Do you think I am
nothing? This day is your last."

Roko replied: "Perhaps so. If the sky falls, I shall
die."

Tuna leaped upon Roko and bit him. Then came
the mighty battle of the coral caves. Roko broke
Tuna into several pieces — and the red blood poured

MAUI AND TUNA. 99

in boiling bubbles upward through the clear ocean
waters, and the boatmen cried: "The blood is red —
the blood is red — Tuna is dead by the hand of Roko."
Roko lived for a time in Fiji, where his descendants
still find their home. The people use this chant to aid
them in difficulties:

"My load is a red one.

It points in front to Kawa (Roko's home).
Behind, it points to Dolomo — (a village on another island)."

In the Hawaiian legends, Hina was Maui's mother
rather than his wife, and Kuna (Tuna) was a mo-o, a
dragon or gigantic lizard possessing miraculous
powers.

Hina's home was in the large cave under the beau-
tiful Rainbow Falls near the city of Hilo. Above the
falls the bed of the river is along the channel of an
ancient lava flow. Sometimes the water pours in a
torrent over the rugged lava, sometimes it passes
through underground passages as well as along the
black river bed, and sometimes it thrusts itself into
boiling pools.

Maui lived on the northern side of the river, but a
chief named Kuna-moo — a dragon — lived in the boil-
ing pools. He attacked Hina and threw a dam across
the river below Rainbow Falls, intending to drown
Hina in her cave. The great ledge of rock filled the
river bed high up the bank on the Hilo side of the

100 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

river. Hina called on Maui for aid. Maui came
quickly and with mighty blows cut out a new channel
for the river — the path it follows to this day. The
waters sank and Hina remained unharmed in her
cave.

The place where Kuna dwelt was called Wai-kuna
— the Kuna water. The river in which Hina and
Kuna dwelt bears the name Wailuku — "the destruc-
tive water." Maui went above Kuna's home and
poured hot water into the river. This part of the
myth could e.asily have arisen from a lava outburst on
the side of the volcano above the river. The hot water
swept in a flood over Kuna's home. Kuna jumped
from the boiling pools over a series of small falls near
his home into the river below. Here the hot water
again scalded him and in pain he leaped from the
river to the bank, where Maui killed him by beating
him with a club. His body was washed down the
river over the falls under which Hina dwelt, into the
ocean.

The story of Kuna or Tuna is a legend with a founda-
tion in the enmity between two chiefs of the long ago,
and also in a desire to explain the origin of the family
of eels and the invention of nets and traps.

Wailuku River -the Boiling Pots.

VIII.
MAUI AND HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW.

"Stories of Main's Brother-in-Law, " and of
"Maui seeking Immortality," are not found in
Hawaiian mythology. We depend upon Sir
George Grey and John White for the New Zealand
myths in which both of these legends occur.

Maui's sister Hina-uri married Ira-waru, who was
willing to work with his skilful brother-in-law. They
hunted in the forests and speared birds. They fished
and farmed together. They passed through many ex-
periences similar to those Maui's own brothers had
suffered before the brother-in-law took their place as
Maui's companion. They made spears together — but
Maui made notched barbs for his spear ends — and
slipped them off when Ira-waru came near. So for a
long time the proceeds of bird hunting fell to Maui.
But after a time the brother-in-law learned the secret
as the brothers had before, and Maui was looked up to
by his fellow hunter as the skilful one. Sometimes

102 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

Ira-waru was able to see at once Haul's plan and adopt
it. He discovered Maui's method of making the punga
or eel baskets for catching eels.

The two hunters went to the forest to find a cer-
tain creeping vine with which to weave their eel
snares. Ira-waru made a basket with a hole, by which
the eels could enter, but they could turn around and
go out the same way. So he very seldom caught an
eel. But Maui made his basket with a long funnel-
shaped door, by which the eels could easily slide into
the snare but could scarcely escape. He made a door
in the side which he fastened tight until he wished to
pour the eels out.

Ira-waru immediately made a basket like Maui.
Then Maui became angry and uttered incantations
over Ira-waru. The man dropped on the ground and
became a dog. Maui returned home and met his
sister, who charged him with sorcery concerning her
husband.

Maui did not deny the exercise of his power, but
taught his sister a chant and sent her out to the level
country. There she uttered her chant and a strange
dog with long hair came to her, barking and leaping
around her. Then she knew what Maui had done.
"Thus Ira-waru became the first of the long-haired
dogs whose flesh has been tabooed to women."

The Tahu and Hau tribes of New Zealand tell a
different story. They say that Maui went to visit

MAUI AND HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW. 103

Ira-waru. Together they set out on a journey. After
a time they rested by the wayside and became sleepy.
Maui asked Ira-waru to cleanse his head. This gave
him the restful, soothing touch which aided sleep.
Then Maui proposed that Ira-waru sleep. Taking the
head in his hands, Maui put his brother-in-law to
sleep. Then by incantations he made the sleep very
deep and prolonged. Meanwhile he pulled the ears
and arms and limbs until they were properly length-
ened. He drew out the under jaw until it had the
form of a dog's mouth. He stretched the end of the
backbone into a tail, and then wakened Ira-waru and
drove him back when he tried to follow the path to
the settlement.

Hina-uri went out and called her husband. He
came to her, leaping and barking. She decided that
this was her husband, and in her agony reproached Maui
and wandered away.

The Rua-nui story-tellers of New Zealand say that
Maui's anger was aroused against Ira-waru because
he ate all the bait when they went fishing, and they
could catch no fish after paddling out to the fishing
grounds. When they came to land, Maui told Ira-waru
to lie down in the sand as a roller over which to
drag the canoe up the beach. When he was lying
helpless under the canoe, Maui changed him into a

*•

The Arawa legends make the cause of Maui's anger

104 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

the success of Ira-waru while fishing. Ira-waru had
many fish while Maui had captured but few. The
story is told thus: "Ira-waru hooked a fish and in
pulling it in his line became entangled with that of
Maui. Maui felt the jerking and began to pull in his
line. Soon they pulled their lines close up to the
canoe, one to the bow, the other to the stern, where
each was sitting. Maui said: 'Let me pull the lines
to me, as the fish is on my hook.' His brother-in-law
said: 'Not so; the fish is on mine.' But Maui said:
'Let me pull my line in.' Ira-waru did so and saw
that the fish was on his hook. Then he said: 'Untwist
your lines and let mine go, that I may pull the fish in.'
Maui said: 'I will do so, but let me have time.' He
took the fish off Ira-waru's hook and saw that there
was a barb on the hook. He said to Ira-waru: 'Per-
haps we ought to return to land.' When they were
dragging the canoe on shore, Maui said to Ira-waru:
'Get between the canoe and outrigger and drag.' Ira-
waru did so and Maui leaped on the outrigger and
weighed it heavily down and crushed Ira-waru pros-
trate on the beach. Maui trod on him and pulled his
backbone long like a tail and changed him into a dog."
Maui is said to have tattooed the muzzle of the dog
with a beautiful pattern which the birds (kahui-tara,
a flock of tern) used in marking the sky. From this
also came the red glow which sometimes flushes the
face of man.

MAUI AND HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW. 105

Another Arawa version of the legend was that Maui
and Ira- warn were journeying together. Ira-waru was
gluttonous and ate the best food. At last Maui deter-
mined to punish his companion. By incantation he
lengthened the way until Ira-waru became faint and
weary. Maui had provided himself with a little food
and therefore was enabled to endure the long way.
While Ira-waru slept Maui trod on his backbone and
lengthened it and changed the arms and limbs into
the legs of a dog. When Hina-uri saw the state of her
husband she went into the thatched house by which
Ira-waru had so often stood watching the hollow log
in which she dried the fish and preserved the birds
speared in the mountains. She bound her girdle and
kiekie-leaf apron around her and went down to the sea
to drown herself, that her body might be eaten by the
monsters of the sea. When she came to the shell-
covered beach, she sat down and sang her death song —

"I weep, I call to the steep billows of the sea
And to him, the great, the ocean god;
To monsters, all now hidden,
To come and bury me,
Who now am wrapped in mourning.
Let the waves wear their mourning, too,
And sleep as sleeps the dead. ' '

— Ancient Maui Chant of New Zealand.

Then Hina-uri threw herself into the sea and was
borne on the waves many moons, at last drifting to

106 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

shore, to be found by two fishermen. They carried
the body off to the fire and warmed it back to life.
They brushed off the sea moss and sea weeds and
rubbed her until she awoke.

Soon they told their chief, Tini-rau, what a beautiful
woman they had found in the sea. He came and took
her away to make her one of his wives. But the other
wives were jealous and drove Hina-uri away from the
chief's houses.

Another New Zealand legend says that Hina came
to the sea and called for a little fish to aid her in
going away from the island. It tried to carry her, but
was too weak. Hina struck it with her open hand.
It had striped sides forever after. She tried a larger
fish, but fell off before they had gone far from shore.
Her blow gave this fish its beautiful blue spots. Another
received black spots. Another she stamped her foot
upon, making it flat. At last a shark carried her far
away. She was very thirsty, and broke a cocoanut
on the shark's head, making a bump, which has been
handed down for generations. The shark carried her
to the home of the two who rescued her and gave her
new strength.

Meanwhile Rupe or Maui-mua, a brother of Hina-
uri and Maui, grieved for his sister. He sought for
her throughout the land and then launched his canoe
upon the blue waters surrounding Ao-tea-roa (The
Great White Cloud; the ancient native New Zealand)

Outside were other Worlds."

MAUI AND HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW. 107

and searched the coasts. He only learned that his
sister had, as the natives said, "leaped into the waters
and been carried away into the heavens."

Rupe's heart filled with the desire to find and pro-
tect the frenzied sister who had probably taken a canoe
and floated away, out of the horizon, seen from New
Zealand coasts, into new horizons. During the Viking
age of the Pacific, when many chiefs sailed long dis-
tances, visiting the most remote islands of Polynesia,
they frequently spoke of breaking through from the
home land into new heavens — or of climbing up the
path of the sun on the waters into a new heaven. This
was their poetical way of passing from horizon to hori-
zon. The horizon around their particular island sur-
rounded their complete world. Outside, somewhere,
were other worlds and other heavens. Rupe's voyage
was an idyll of the Pacific. It was one more story to be
added to the prose poems of consecrated travel. It
was a brother feeling through the mysteries of unknown
lands for a sister, as dear to him as an Evangeline has
been to other men.

From the mist-land of the Polynesian race comes
this story of the trickery of Maui the learned, and the
faithfulness of his older brother Maui-mua — or Rupe —
one of the "five forgetful Mauis." Rupe hoisted mat-
sails over his canoe and thus made the winds serve
him. He paddled the canoe onward through the hours
when calms rested on glassy waves.

108 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

Thus he passed out of sight of Ao-tea-roa, away
from his brothers, and out of the reach of all tricks
and incantations of Maui, the mischievous. He sailed
until a new island rose out of the sea to greet him.
Here in a "new heaven" he found friends to care for
him and prepare him for his longer journey. His
restless anxiety for his sister urged him onward until
days lengthened into months and months into years.
He passed from the horizons of newly-discovered
islands, into the horizons of circling skies around
islands of which he had never heard before. Some-
times he found relatives, but more frequently his wel-
come came from those who could trace no historical
touch in their genealogies.

Here and there, apparently, he found traces of a
woman whose description answered that of his sister
Hina-uri. At last he looked through the heavens upon
a new world, and saw his sister in great trouble.

According to some legends the jealous wives of the
great chief, Tini-rau, attack Hina, who was known
among them as Hina-te-ngaru-moana, "Hina, the
daughter of the ocean." Tini-rau and Hina lived
away from the village of the chief until their little boy
was born. "When they needed food, the chief said,
"Let us go to my settlement and we shall have food
provided. ' '

But Hina chanted:

MAUI AND HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW. 109

"Let it down, let it down,
Descend, oh! descend — "

and sufficient food fell before them. After a time their
frail clothing wore out, and the cold chilled them, then
Hina again uttered the incantation and clothing was
provided for their need.

But the jealous wives, two in number, finally heard
where Hina and the chief were living, and started to
see them.

Tini-rau said to Hina, "Here come my other wives —
be careful how you act before them."

She replied, "If they come in anger it will be evil."

She armed herself with an obsidian or volcanic-glass
knife, and waited their coming.

They tried to throw enchantments around her to
kill her. Then one of them made a blow at her with
a weapon, but she turned it aside and killed her enemy
with the obsidian knife.

Then the other wife made an attack, and again the
obsidian knife brought death. She ripped open the
stomachs of the jealous ones and showed the chief fish
lines and sinkers and other property which they had
eaten in the past and which Tini-rau had never been
able to trace.

Another legend says that the two women came to
kill Hina when they heard of the birth of her boy.
For a time she was greatly terrified. Then she saw

110 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

that they were coming from different directions. She
attacked the nearest one with a stone and killed her.
The body burst open, and was seen to be full of green
stone. Then she killed the second wife in the same
way, and found more green stones. "Thus, according
to the legends, originated the greenstone" from which
the choicest and most valuable stone tools have since
been made. For a time the chief and Hina lived hap-
pily together. Then he began to neglect her and abuse
her, until she cried aloud for her brother —

"O Kupe! come down.
Take me and my child. ' '

Eupe assumed the form of a bird and flew down to
this world in which he had found his sister. He
chanted as he came down —

"It is Eupe, yes Eupe,
The elder brother;
And I am here."

He folded the mother and her boy under his wings
and flew away with them. Sir George Grey relates
a legend in which Maui-mua or Eupe is recorded as
having carried his sister and her child to one of the
new lands, found in his long voyage, where dwelt an
aged relative, of chief rank, with his retairers.

Some legends say that Tini-rau tried to catch Eupe,

MAUI— A DEMI-GOD. Ill

who was compelled to drop the child in order to es-
cape with the mother. Tini-rau caught the child and
carefully cared for him until he grew to be a strong
young lad.

Then he wanted to find his mother and bring her
back to his father. How this was done, how Rupe
took his sister back to the old chief, and how civil
wars arose are not all these told in the legends of the
Maoris. Thus the tricks of Maui the mischievous
brought trouble for a time, but were finally over-
shadowed by happy homes in neighboring lands for
his suffering sister and her descendants.

IX.
MAUI'S KITE FLYING.

Climb up, climb up,

To the highest surface of heaven,

To all the sides of heaven.

Climb then to thy ancestor,
The sacred bird in the sky,
To thy ancestor Eehua
In the heavens.

— New Zealand kite incantation.

MAUI the demi-god was sometimes the Hercules
of Polynesia. His exploits were fully as mar-
velous as those of the hero of classic mythology.
He snared the sun. He pulled up islands from the
ocean depths. He lifted the sky into its present position
and smoothed its arched surface with his stone adze.
These stories belong to all Polynesia.

There are numerous less important local myths, some
of them peculiar to New Zealand, some to the Society
Islands and some to the Hawaiian group.

One of the old native Hawaiians says that in the
long, long ago the birds were flying around the homes
of the ancient people. The flutter of their wings could
be heard and the leaves and branches moved when the
motion of the wings ceased and the wanderers through
the air found resting places. Then came sweet music
from the trees and the people marvelled. Only one
of all mankind could see the winged warblers. Maui,

MAUI'S KITE FLYING. 113

the demi-god, had clear vision. The swift-flying wings
covered with red or gold he saw. The throats tinted
many colors and reflecting the sunlight with diamond
sparks of varied hues he watched while they trembled
with the melody of sweet bird songs. All others heard
but did not see. They were blind and yet had open
vision.

Sometimes the iiwi (a small red bird) fluttered in
the air and uttered its shrill, happy song, and Maui
saw and heard. But the bird at that time was without
color in the eyes of the ancient people and only the
clear voice was heard, while no speck of bird life flecked
the clear sky overhead.

At one time a god from one of the other islands came
to visit Maui. Each boasted of and described the
beauties and merits of his island. While they were
conversing, Maui called for his friends the birds. They
gathered around the house and fluttered among the
leaves of the surrounding trees. Soon their sweet voices
filled the air on all sides. All the people wondered
and worshiped, thinking they heard the fairy or mene-
hune people. It was said that Maui had painted the
bodies of his invisible songsters and for a long time
had kept the delight of their flashing colors to himself.
But when the visitor had rejoiced in the mysterious
harmonies, Maui decided to take away whatever veil
shut out the sight of these things beautiful, that his
bird friends might be known and honoured ever after.

114 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

So he made the birds reveal themselves perched in the
trees or flying in the air. The clear eyes of the god
first recognized the new revelation, then all the people
became dumb before the sweet singers adorned in all
their brilliant tropical plumage.

The beautiful red birds, iiwi and akakani, and the
birds of glorious yellow feathers, the oo and the mamo,
were a joy to both eye and ear and found high places
in Hawaiian legend and story, and all gave their most
beautiful feathers for the cloaks and helmets of the
chiefs.

The Maoris of New Zealand say that Maui could at
will change himself into a bird and with his feathered
friends find a home in leafy shelters. In bird form he
visited the gods of the under-world. His capricious
soul was sensitive to the touch of all that mysterious
life of nature.

With the birds as companions and the winds as his
servants Maui must soon have turned his inventive
mind to kite making.

The Hawaiian myths are perhaps the only ones of
the Pacific Ocean which give to any of the gods the
pleasure and excitement of kite flying. Maui, after
repeated experiments, made a large kite for himself.
It was much larger than any house of his time or
generation. He twisted a long line from the strong
fibers of the native plant known as the olona. He
endowed both kite and string with marvelous powers

The Home of the Winds, Hilo Coast.

MAUI'S KITE FLYING. 115

and launched the kite up toward the clouds. It rose
very slowly. The winds were not lifting it into the
sky.

Maui remembered that an old priest lived in Waipio
valley, the largest and finest valley of the large island,
Hawaii, on which he made his home.

This priest had a covered calabash in which he com-
pelled the winds to hide when he did not wish them
to play on land and sea. The priest's name was Ka-
leiioku, and his calabash was known as ipu-makani-
a ka maumau, "the calabash of the perpetual winds."
Maui called for the priest who had charge of the winds
to open his calabash and let them come up to Hilo and
blow along the Wailuku river. The natives say that
the place where Maui stood was marked by the pressure
of his feet in the lava rocks of the river bank as he
braced himself to hold the kite against the increasing
force of the winds which pushed it towards the sky.
Then the enthusiasm of kite flying filled his youthful
soul and he cried aloud, screaming his challenge along
the coast of the sea toward Waipio —

"O winds, winds of Waipio,
In the calabash of Kaleiioku.
Come from the ipu-makani,
O wind, the wind of Hilo,
Come quickly, come with power."

116 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

Then the priest lifted the cover of the calabash of
the winds and let the strong winds of Hilo escape.
Along the sea coast they rushed until as they entered
Hilo Bay they heard the voice of Maui calling —

"O winds, winds of Hilo,
Hasten and come to me."

With a tumultuous rush the strong winds turned
toward the mountains. They forced their way along
the gorges and palisades of the Wailuku river. They
leaped into the heavens, making a fierce attack upon
the monster which Maui had sent into the sky. The
kite struggled as it was pushed upward by the hands
of the fierce winds, but Maui rejoiced. His heart was
uplifted by the joy of the conflict in which his strength
to hold was pitted against the power of the winds to
tear away. And again he shouted toward the sea —

"O winds, the winds of Hilo,
Come to the mountains, come."

The winds which had been stirring up storms on
the face of the waters came inland. They dashed
against Maui. They climbed the heights of the skies
until they fell with full violence against their mighty
foe hanging in the heavens.

The kite had been made of the strongest kapa (paper
cloth) which Maui's mother could prepare. It was

MAUI'S KITE FLYING. 117

not torn, although it was bent backward to its utmost
limit. Then the strain came on the strong cord of
olona fibre. The line was stretched and strained as
the kite was pushed back. Then Maui called again and
again for stronger winds to come. The cord was drawn
out until the kite was far above the mountains. At
last it broke and the kite was tossed over the craters of
the volcanoes to the land of the district of Ka-u on the
other side of the island.

Then Maui was angry and hastily leaped over the
mountains, which are nearly fourteen thousand feet
in altitude. In a half dozen strides he had crossed the
fifty or sixty miles from his home to the place where
the kite lay. He could pass over many miles with a
single step. His name was Maui-Mama, "Maui the
Swift." When Maui returned with his kite he was
more careful in calling the winds to aid him in his
sport.

The people watched their wise neighbor and soon
learned that the kite would be a great blessing to them.
When it was soaring in the sky there was always dry
and pleasant weather. It was a day for great rejoic-
ing. They could spread out their kapa cloth to dry as
long as the kite was in the sky. They could carry
out their necessary work without fear of the rain.
Therefore when any one saw the kite beginning to
float along the mountain side he would call out joy-
fully, "E ! Maui's kite is in the heavens." Maui would

118 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

send his kite into the blue sky and then tie the line
to the great black stones in the bed of the Wailuku
river.

Maui soon learned the power of his kite when blown
upon by a fierce wind. With his accustomed skill he
planned to make use of his strong servant, and there-
fore took the kite with him on his journeys to the
other islands, using it to aid in making swift voyages.
With the wind in the right direction, the kite could
pull his double canoe very easily and quickly to its
destination.

Time passed, and even the demi-god died. The fish
hook with which he drew the Hawaiian Islands up
from the depths of the sea was allowed to lie on the
lava by the Wailuku river until it became a part of
the stone. The double canoe was carried far inland
and then permitted to petrify by the river side. The
two stones which represent the double canoe now bear
the name " Waa-Kauhi, ' ' and the kite has fallen from
the sky far up on the mountain side, where it still rests,
a flat plot of rich land between Mauna Kea and Mauna
Loa.

X.

THE OAHU LEGENDS OF MAUL

SEVERAL Maui legends have been located on the
island of Oahu. They were given by Mr. Kaaia
to Mr. T. G. Thrum, the publisher of what is well
known in the Hawaiian Islands as "Thrum's Annual."
He has kindly furnished them for added interest to the
present volume. The legends have a distinctly local
flavor confined entirely to Oahu. It has seemed best
to reserve them for a chapter by themselves although
they are chiefly variations of stories already told.

MAUI AND THE TWO GODS.

This history of Maui and his grandmother Hina be-
gins with their arrival from foreign lands. They dwelt
in Kane-ana (Kane's cave), Waianae, Oahu. This is an
"ana," or cave, at Puu-o-hulu. Hina had wonderful
skill in making all kinds of tapa according to the custom
of the women of ancient Hawaii.

Maui went to the Koolau side and rested at Kaha-luu,

120 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

a diving place in Koolaupoko. In that place there is a
noted hill called Ma-eli-eli. This is the story of that
hill. Maui threw up a pile of dirt and concealed rub-
bish under it. The two gods, Kane and Kanaloa, came
along and asked Maui what he was doing. He said,
' ' What you see. You two dig on that side to the foot of
the pali, (precipice) and I will go down at Kaha-luu.
If you two dig through first, you may kill me. If I
get through first I will kill you." They agreed, and
began to dig and throw up the dirt. Then Maui dug
three times and tossed up some of the hills of that place.
Kane and Kanaloa saw that Maui was digging very
fast, so they put forth very great strength and threw
the dirt into a hill. Meanwhile Maui ran away to the
other side of the island. Thus by the aid of the gods
the hill Ma-eli-eli was thrown up and received its name
"eli," meaning "dig." "Ma-eli-eli" meant "the place
of digging."

HOW THEY FOUND FIRE.

It was said that Maui and Hina had no fire. They
were often cold and had no cooked food. Maui saw
flames rising in a distant place and ran to see how
they were made. When he came to that place the fire
was out and some birds flew away. One of them was
Ka-Alae-huapi, "the stingy Alae" — a small duck, the
Hawaiian mud hen. Maui watched again and saw fire.

Bay, of Waipio Valley.

THE OAHU LEGENDS OF MAUL 121

When he went up the birds saw him coming and scat-
tered the fire, carrying the ashes into the water; but
he leaped and caught the little Alae. "Ah!" he said,
"I will kill you, because you do not let me have fire."
The bird replied, ' ' If you kill me you cannot find fire. ' '
Maui said, "Where is fire?" The Alae said, "Go up
on the high land where beautiful plants with large
leaves are standing; rub their branches." Maui set
the bird free and went inland from Halawa and found
dry land taro. He began to rub the stalks, but only
juice came out like water. He had no red fire. He
was very angry and said, "If that lying Alae is caught
again by me I will be its death."

After a while he saw the fire burning and ran swiftly.
The birds saw him and cried, "The cooking is over.
Here comes the swift grandchild of Hina." They
scattered the fire; threw the ashes away and flew into
the water. But again Maui caught the Alae and began
to kill it, saying: "you gave me a plant full of water
from which to get fire." The bird said, "If I die
you can never find fire. I will give you the secret
of fire. Take a branch of that dry tree and rub."
Maui held the bird fast in one hand while he rubbed
with the other until smoke and fire came out. Then
he took the fire stick and rubbed the head of the bird,
making a place where red and white feathers have
grown ever since.

122 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

He returned to Hina and taught her how to make
fire, using the two fire sticks and how to twist coco-
nut fibre to catch the fire when it had been kindled in
wood. But the Alae was not forgotten. It was called
huapi, "stingy," because it selfishly kept the know-
ledge of fire making to itself.

MAUI CATCHING THE SUN.

Maui watched Hina making tapa. The wet tapa
was spread on a long tapa board, and Hina began at
one end to pound it into shape; pounding from one
end to another. He noticed that sunset came by the
time she had pounded to the middle of the board. The
sun hurried so fast that she could only begin her work
before the day was past.

He went to the hill Hele-a-ka-la, which means
"journey of the sun." He thought he would catch the
sun and make it move slowly. He went up the hill
and waited. When the sun began to rise, Maui made
himself long, stretching up toward the sky. Soon the
shining legs of the sun came up the hillside. He saw
Maui and began to run swiftly, but Maui reached out
and caught one of the legs, saying: "0 sun, I will
kill you. You are a mischief maker. You make
trouble for Hina by going so fast." Then he broke
the shining leg of the sun. The sufferer said, "I will
change my way and go slowly — six months slow and

THE OAHU LEGENDS OF MAUI. 123

six months faster. ' ' Thus arose the saying, ' ' Long shall
be the daily journey of the sun and he shall give light
for all the people's toil." Hina learned that she could
pound until she was tired while the farmers could
plant and take care of their fields. Thus also this
hill received its name Hele-a-ka-la. This is one of the
hills of Waianae near the precipice of the hill Puu-o-
hulu.

UNITING THE ISLANDS.

Maui suggested to Hina that he had better try to
draw the islands together, uniting them in one land.
Hina told Maui to go and see Alae-nui-a-Hina, who
would tell him what to do. The Alae told him they
must go to Ponaha-ke-one (a fishing place outside of
Pearl Harbor) and find Ka-uniho-kahi, "the one
toothed," who held the land under the sea.

Maui went back to Hina. She told him to ask his
brothers to go fishing with him. They consented and
pushed out into the sea. Soon Maui saw a bailing
dish floating by the canoe and picked it up. It was
named Hina-a-ke-ka, "Hina who fell off." They pad-
dled to Ponaha-ke-one. When they stopped they saw
a beautiful young woman in the boat. Then they
anchored and again looked in the boat, but the young
woman was gone. They saw the bailing dish and threw
it into the sea.

124 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

Maui-nma threw his hook and caught a large fish,
which was seen to be a shark as they drew it to the
surface. At once they cut the line. So also Maui-
hope and Maui-waena. At last Maui threw his hook
Manai-i-ka-lani into the sea. It went down, down into
the depths. Maui cried, " Hina-a-ke-ka has my hook
in her hand. By her it will be made fast." Hina
went down with the hook until she met Ka-uniho-kahi.
She asked him to open his mouth, then threw the hook
far inside and made it fast. Then she pulled the line
so that Maui should know that the fish was caught.
Maui fastened the line to the outrigger of the canoe
and asked his brothers to paddle with all diligence,
and not look back. Long, long, they paddled and were
very tired. Then Maui took a paddle and dipped
deep into the sea. The boat moved more swiftly
through the sea. The brothers looked back and cried,
"There is plenty of land behind us." The charm
was broken. The hook came out of "the one toothed,"
and the raised islands sank back into their place. The
natives say, "The islands are now united to America.
Perhaps Maui has been at work."

MAUI AND PEA-PEA THE EIGHT-EYED.

Maui had been fishing and had caught a great fish
upon which he was feasting. He looked inland and
saw his wife, Kumu-lama, seized and carried away by

fe1- ,

..: •••'

The le-ie Vine.

THE OAHU LEGENDS OF MAUI. 125

Pea-pea-maka-walu, "Pea-pea the eight-eyed." This is
a legend derived from the myths of many islands in
which Lupe or Rupe (pigeon) changed himself into
a bird and flew after his sister Hina who had been
carried on the back of a shark to distant islands. Some-
times as a man and sometimes as a bird he prosecuted
his search until Hina was found.

Maui pursued Pea-pea, but could not catch him. He
carried Maui's wife over the sea to a far away island.
Maui was greatly troubled but his grandmother sent
him inland to find an old man who would tell him
what to do. Maui went inland and looking down to-
ward Waipahu saw this man Ku-olo-kele. He was
hump-backed. Maui threw a large stone and hit the
''hill on the back" knocked it off and made the back
straight. The old man lifted up the stone and threw
it to Waipahu, where it lies to this day. Then he and
Maui talked together. He told Maui to go and catch
birds and gather ti leaves and fibres of the ie-ie vine,
and fill his house. These things Maui secured and
brought to him. He told Maui to go home and return
after three days.

Ku-olo-kele took the ti leaves and the ie-ie threads
and made the body of a great bird which he covered
with bird feathers. He fastened all together with the
ie-ie. This was done in the first day. The second day
he placed food inside and tried his bird and it flew

126 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

all right. "Thus," as the Hawaiians say, "the first
flying ship was made in the time of Maui." This
is a modern version of Rupe changing himself into a
bird.

On the third day Maui came and saw the wonderful
bird body thoroughly prepared for his journey. Maui
went inside. Ku-olo-kele said, "When you reach that
land, look for a village. If the people are not there
look to the beach. If there are many people, your
wife and Pea-pea the eight-eyed will be there. Do not
go near, but fly out over the sea. The people will
say, '0, the strange bird;' but Pea-pea will say,
'This is my bird. It is tabu.' You can then come
to the people."

Maui pulled the ie-ie ropes fastened to the wings
and made them move. Thus he flew away into the
sky. Two days was his journey before he came to
that strange island, Moana-liha-i-ka-wao-kele. It was
a beautiful land. He flew inland to a village, but
there were no people ; according to the ancient chant :

"The houses of Lima-loa stand,
But there are no people;
They are at Mana. "

The people were by the sea. Maui flew over them.
He saw his wife, but he passed on flying out over the
sea, skimming like a sea bird down to the water and

THE OAHU LEGENDS OF MAUL 127

rising gracefully up to the sky. Pea-pea called out,
"This is my bird. It is tabu." Maui heard and came
to the beach. He was caught and placed in a tabu
box. The servants carried him up to the village and
put him in the chief's sleeping house, when Pea-pea
and his people returned to their homes.

In the night Pea-pea and Maui's wife lay down to
sleep. Maui watched Pea-pea, hoping that he would
soon sleep. Then he would kill him. Maui waited.
One eye was closed, seven eyes were opened. Then
four eyes closed, leaving three. The night was almost
past and dawn was near. Then Maui called to Hina
with his spirit voice, "0 Hina, keep it dark." Hina
made the gray dawn dark in the three eyes and two
closed in sleep. The last eye was weary, and it also
slept. Then Maui went out of the bird body and cut
off the head of Pea-pea and put it inside the bird. He
broke the roof of the house until a large opening was
made. He took his wife, Kumu-lama, and flew away
to the island of Oahu. The winds blew hard against
the flying bird. Rain fell in torrents around it, but
those inside had no trouble.

"Thus Maui returned with his wife to his home in
Oahu. The story is pau (finished)."

XI.

MAUI SEEKING IMMORTALITY.

"Where, where are now the houses
Where all the twinkling stars were made?
The houses called 'The Sparkling Flash of Night,'
And 'The Sparkling Flash of Day';
The house of Rangi (heaven) from whence were brought
The multitude of stars, now sparkling in the sky
To give thee light, O man, upon thy voyage through life!"
— Ancient Maori lament for the dead.

story of Maui seeking immortality for the
human race is one of the finest myths in the
world. For pure imagination and pathos it is
difficult to find any tale from Grecian or Latin litera-
ture to compare with it. In Greek and Roman fables
gods suffered for other gods, and yet none were sur-
rounded with such absolutely mythical experiences as
those through which the demi-god Maui of the Pa-
cific Ocean passed when he entered the gates of death
with the hope of winning immortality for mankind.
The really remarkable groups of legends which cluster

MAUI SEEKING IMMORTALITY. 129

around Maui is well concluded by the story of his
unselfish and heroic battle with death.

The different islands of the Pacific have their Hades,
or abode of dead. It is, with very few exceptions,
down in the interior of the earth. Sometimes the
tunnels left by currents of melted lava are the pas-
sages into the home of departed spirits. In Samoa
there are two circular holes among the rocks at the
west end of the island Savaii. These are the en-
trances to the under-world for chiefs and people. The
spirits of those who die on the other islands leap into
the sea and swim around the land from island to
island until they reach Savaii. Then they plunge
down into their heaven or their hades.

The Tongans had a spirit island for the home of
the dead. They said that some natives once sailed far
away in a canoe and found this island. It was cov-
ered with all manner of beautiful fruits, among which
rare birds sported. They landed, but the trees were
shadows. They grasped but could not hold them.
The fruits and the birds were shadows. The men ate,
but swallowed nothing substantial. It was shadow-
land. They walked through all the delights their
eyes looked upon, but found no substance. They re-
turned home, but ever seemed to listen to spirits
calling them back to the island. In a short time all
the voyagers were dead.

There is no escape from death. The natives of New

130 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

Zealand say: "Man may have descendants, but the
daughter of the night strangles his offspring"; and
again: "Men make heroes, but death carries them
away. ' '

There are very few legends among the Polynesians
concerning the death of Maui. And these are usually
fragmentary, except among the Maoris of New Zea-
land.

The Hawaiian legend of the death of Maui is to
the effect that he offended some of the greater gods
living in Waipio valley on the Island of Hawaii. Ka-
naloa, one of the four greatest gods of Hawaii, seized
him and dashed him against the rocks. His blood
burst from the body and colored the earth red in the
upper part of the valley. The Hawaiians in another
legend say that Maui was chasing a boy and girl in
Honolii gulch, Hawaii. The girl climbed a bread-
fruit tree. Maui changed himself into an eel and
stretched himself along the side of the trunk of the
tree. The tree stretched itself upward and Maui failed
to reach the girl. A priest came along and struck the
eel and killed it, and so Maui died. This is evidently
a changed form of the legend of Maui and the long
eel. Another Hawaiian fragment approaches very near
to the beautiful New Zealand myth. The Hawaiians
said that Maui attempted to tear a mountain apart.
He wrenched a great hole in the side. Then the ele-
paio bird sang and the charm was broken. The cleft

MAUI SEEKING IMMORTALITY. 131

in the mountain could not be enlarged. If the story
could be completed it would not be strange if the
death of Maui came with this failure to open the
path through the mountain.

The Hervey Islanders say that after Maui fished up
the islands his hook was thrown into the heavens and
became the curved tail of the constellation of stars
which we know as "The Scorpion." Then the people
became angry with Maui and threw him up into the
sky and his body is still thought to be hanging among
the stars of the scorpion.

The Samoans, according to Turner, say that Maui
went fishing and tried to catch the land under the
seas and pull it to the surface. Finally an island ap-
peared, but the people living on it were angry with
Maui and drove him away into the heavens.

As he leaped from the island it separated into two
parts. Thus the Samoans account for the origin of
two of their islands and also for the passing away of
Maui from the earth.

The natives of New Zealand have many myths
concerning the death of Maui. Each tribe tells the
story with such variations as would be expected when
the fact is noted that these tribes have preserved their
individuality through many generations. The sub-
stance of the myth, however, is the same.

In Maui's last days he longed for the victory over
death. His innate love of life led him to face the

132 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

possibility of escaping and overcoming the relentless
enemy of mankind and thus bestow the boon of death-
lessness upon his fellow-men. He had been success-
ful over and over again in his contests with both gods
and men. When man was created, he stood erect,
but, according to an Hawaiian myth, had jointless
arms and limbs. A web of skin connected and fastened
tightly the arms to the body and the legs to each
other. "Maui was angry at this motionless statue and
took him and broke his legs at ankle, knee and hip
and then, tearing them and the arms from the body,
destroyed the web. Then he broke the arms at the
elbow and shoulder. Then man could move from
place to place, but he had neither fingers nor toes."
Here comes the most ancient Polynesian statement of
the theory of evolution: "Hunger impelled man to
seek his food in the mountains, where his toes were
cut out by the brambles in climbing, and his fingers
were also formed by the sharp splinters of the bamboo
while searching with his arms for food in the ground."

It was not strange that Maui should feel self-con-
fident when considering the struggle for immortality
as a gift to be bestowed upon mankind. And yet his
father warned him that his time of failure would
surely come.

White, who has collected many of the myths and
legends of New Zealand, states that after Maui had
ill-treated Mahu-ika, his grandmother, the goddess

MAUI SEEKING IMMORTALITY. 133

and guardian of fire in the under-world, his father
and mother tried to teach him to do differently. But
he refused to listen. Then the father said:

"You heard our instructions, but please yourself
and persist for life or death."

Maui replied: "What do I care? Do you think I
shall cease? Bather I will persist forever and ever."

Then his father said: "There is one so powerful
that no tricks can be of any avail."

Maui asked: "By what shall I be overcome?" The
answer was that one of his ancestors, Hine-nui-te-po
(Great Hine of the night), the guardian of life, would
overcome him.

When Maui fished islands out of the deep seas, it
was said that Hine made her home on the outer edge
of one of the outermost islands. There the glow of
the setting sun lighted the thatch of her house and
covered it with glorious colors. There Great Hine
herself stood flashing and sparkling on the edge of
the horizon.

Maui, in these last days of his life, looked toward
the west and said: "Let us investigate this matter
and learn whether life or death shall follow."

The father replied: "There is evil hanging over
you. When I chanted the invocation of your child-
hood, when you were made sacred and guarded by
charms, I forgot a part of the ceremony. And for
this you are to die."

134 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

Then Maui said, "Will this be by Hina-nui-te-po ?
What is she like?"

The father said that the flashing eyes they could
see in the distance were dark as greenstone, the teeth
were as sharp as volcanic glass, her mouth was large
like a fish, and her hair was floating in the air like
sea-weed.

One of the legends of New Zealand says that Maui
and his brothers went toward the west, to the edge
of the horizon, where they saw the goddess of the
night. Light was flashing from her body. Here they
found a great pit — the home of night. Maui entered
the pit — telling his brothers not to laugh. He passed
through and turning about started to return. The
brothers laughed and the walls of night closed in
around him and held him till he died.

The longer legend tells how Maui after his conver-
sation with his father, remembered his conflict with
the moon. He had tied her so that she could not es-
cape, but was compelled to bathe in the waters of life
and return night after night lest men should be in
darkness when evening came.

Maui said to the goddess of the moon: "Let death
be short. As the moon dies and returns with new
strength, so let men die and revive again."

But she replied: "Let death be very long, that man
may sigh and sorrow. When man dies, let him go

MAUI SEEKING IMMORTALITY. 135

into darkness, become like earth, that those he leaves
behind may weep and wail and mourn. ' '

Maui did not lay aside his purpose, but, according
to the New Zealand story, "did not wish men to die,
but to live forever. Death appeared degrading and
an insult to the dignity of man. Man ought to die
like the moon, which dips in the life-giving waters of
Kane and is renewed again, or like the sun, which
daily sinks into the pit of night and with renewed
strength rises in the morning."

Maui sought the home of Hina-nui-te-po — the
guardian of life. He heard her order her attendants
to watch for any one approaching and capture all
who came walking upright as a man. He crept past
the attendants on hands and feet, found the place of
life, stole some of the food of the goddess and re-
turned home. He showed the food to his brothers
and persuaded them to go with him into the darkness
of the night of death. On the way he changed them
into the form of birds. In the evening they came to
the house of the goddess on the island long before
fished up from the seas.

Maui warned the birds to refrain from making any
noise while he made the supreme effort of his life.
He was about to enter upon his struggle for immor-
tality. He said to the birds: "If I go into the stom-
ach of this woman, do not laugh until I have gone

136 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

through her, and come out again at her mouth; then
you can laugh at me."

His friends said: "You will be killed." Maui re-
plied: "If you laugh at me when I have only en-
tered her stomach I shall be killed, but if I have passed
through her and come out of her mouth I shall escape
and Hine-nui-te-po will die."

His friends called out to him: "Go then. The de-
cision is with you."

Hina was sleeping soundly. The flashes of light-
ning had all ceased. The sunlight had almost passed
away and the house lay in quiet gloom. Maui came
near to the sleeping goddess. Her large, fish-like
mouth was open wide. He put off his clothing and
prepared to pass through the ordeal of going to the
hidden source of life, to tear it out of the body of its
guardian and carry it back with him to mankind. He
stood in all the glory of savage manhood. His body
was splendidly marked by the tattoo-bones, and now
well oiled shone and sparkled in the last rays of the
setting sun.

He leaped through the mouth of the enchanted one
and entered her stomach, weapon in hand, to take out
her heart, the vital principle which he knew had its
home somewhere within her being. He found im-
mortality on the other side of death. He turned to

MAUI SEEKING IMMORTALITY. 137

come back again into life when suddenly a little bird
(the Pata-tai) laughed in a clear, shrill tone, and
Great Hina, through whose mouth Maui was passing,
awoke. Her sharp, obsidian teeth closed with a snap
upon Maui, cutting his body in the centre. Thus
Maui entered the gates of death, but was unable to
return, and death has ever since been victor over re-
bellious men. The natives have the saying :

"If Maui had not died, he could have restored to
life all who had gone before him, and thus succeeded
in destroying death."

Maui's brothers took the dismembered body and
buried it in a cave called Te-ana-i-hana, "The cave
dug out," possibly a prepared burial place.

Maui's wife made war upon the spirits, the gods,
and killed as many as she could to avenge her hus-
band's death. One of the old native poets of New
Zealand, in chanting the story to Mr. White, said:
"But though Maui was killed, his offspring survived.
Some of these are at Hawa-i-i-ki and some at Aotea-
roa (New Zealand), but the greater part of them re-
mained at Hawa-iki. This history was handed down
by the generations of our ancestors of ancient times, and
we continue to rehearse it to our children, with our in-
cantations and genealogies, and all other matters relat-
ing to our race."

MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

Sir George Grey, in his "Polynesian Mythology,"
says : —

"According to the tradition of the Maori this was
the cause of the introduction of death into the world —
Hine-nui-te-po being the goddess of death ; if Maui had
passed safely through her then no human beings would
have died but death itself would have been destroyed.
The Maoris say, 'We have the saying, " The Water-wag-
tail laughing at Maui Tiki-tiki-tiki-o-Taranga, made
Hine-nui-te-po squeeze him to death," and we have this
proverb, "Men make heirs, but death carries them
away."'"

"But death is nothing new,

Death is, and has been ever since old Maui died.
Then Pata-tai laughed loud
And woke the goblin-god,
Who severed him in two, and shut him in,
So dusk of eve came on."

— Maori death chant, New Zealand.

XII.
HINA OF HILO.

+ff^ INA is not an uncommon name in Hawaiian
| genealogies. It is usually accompanied by
some adjective which explains or identifies the
person to whom the name is given. In Hawaii the
name Hina is feminine. This is also true throughout
all Polynesia except in a few cases where Hina is
reckoned as a man with supernatural attributes. Even
in these cases it is apparent that the legend has been
changed from its original form as it has been carried
to small islands by comparatively ignorant people
when moving away from their former homes.

Hina is a Polynesian goddess whose story is very
interesting — one worthy of study when comparing
the legends of the island groups of the Pacific. The
Hina of Hilo is the same as the goddess of that name
most widely known throughout Polynesia — and yet
her legends are located by the ancient Hawaiians in
Hilo, as if that place were her only home. The

140 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

legends are so old that the Hawaiians have forgotten
their origin in other lands. The stories were brought
with the immigrants who settled on the Hilo coast.
Thus the stories found their final location with the
families who brought them. There are three Ha-
waiian Hinas practically distinct from each other, al-
though a supernatural element is connected with each
one. Hina who was stolen from Hawaii by a chief
of the Island of Molokai was an historical character,
although surrounded by mythical stories. Another
Hina, who was the wife of Kuula, the fish god, was
pre-eminently a local deity, having no real connection
with the legends of the other islands of the Pacific, al-
though sometimes the stories told concerning her
have not been kept entirely distinct from the legends
of the Hina of Hilo.

The Hilo Hina was the true legendary character
closely connected with all Polynesia. The stories
about her are of value not simply as legends, but as
traditions closely uniting the Hawaiian Islands with
the island groups thousands of miles distant. The
"Wailuku river, which flows through the town of Hilo,
has its own peculiar and weird beauty. For miles it
is a series of waterfalls and rapids. It follows the
course of an ancient lava flow, sometimes forcing its
way under bridges of lava, thus forming what are
called boiling pots, and sometimes pouring in mas-
sive sheets over the edges of precipices which never

HINA OF HILO. 141

disintegrate. By the side of this river Hina's son
Maui had his lands. In the very bed of the river, in
a cave under one of the largest falls, Hina made her
own home, concealed from the world by the silver
veil of falling water and lulled to sleep by the con-
tinual roar of the flood falling into the deep pool be-
low. By the side of this river, the legends say, she
pounded her tapa and prepared her food. Here were
the small, graceful mamake and the coarser wauke
trees, from which the bark was stripped with which
she made tapa cloth. Branches were cut or broken
from these and other trees whose bark was fit for the
purpose. These branches were well soaked until the
bark was removed easily. Then the outer bark was
scraped off, leaving only the pliable inner bark. The
days were very short and there was no time for rest
while making tapa cloth. Therefore, as soon as the
morning light reddened the clouds, Hina would take
her calabash filled with water to pour upon the bark,
and her little bundle of round clubs (the hohoa) and
her four-sided mallets (the i-e-kuku) and hasten to
the sacred spot where, with chants and incantations,
the tapa was made.

The bark was well soaked in the water all the days
of the process of tapa making. Hina took small bun-
dles of the wet inner bark and laid them on the kua
or heavy tapa board, pounding them together into a
pulpy mass with her round clubs. Then using the

142 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

four-sided mallets, she beat this pulp into thin sheets.
Beautiful tapa, soft as silk, was made by adding pulpy
mass to pulpy mass and beating it day after day until
the fibres were lost and a sheet of close-woven bark
cloth was formed. Although Hina was a goddess and
had a family possessing miraculous power, it never
entered the mind of the Hawaiian legend tellers to
endoAV her with ease in producing wonderful results.'
The legends of the Southern Pacific Islands show
more imagination. They say that Ina (Hina) was
such a wonderful artist in making beautiful tapas that
she was placed in the skies, where she beat out glist-
ening fine tapas, the white and glorious clouds. When
she stretches these cloud sheets out to dry, she
places stones along the edges, so that the fierce winds
of the heavens shall not blow them away. When she
throws these stones aside, the skies reverberate with
thunder. When she rolls her cloud sheets of tapa to-
gether, the folds glisten with flashes of light and light-
ning leaps from sheet to sheet.

The Hina of Hilo was grieved as she toiled be-
cause after she had pounded the sheets out so thin
that they were ready to be dried, she found it almost
impossible to secure the necessary aid of the sun in
the drying process. She would rise as soon as she
could see and hasten to spread out the tapa made the
day before. But the sun always hurried so fast that
the sheets could not dry. He leaped from the ocean

HINA OF HILO. 143

waters in the earth, rushed across the heavens and
plunged into the dark waters again on the other side
of the island before she could even turn her tapas so
that they might dry evenly. This legend of very
short days is strange because of its place not only
among the myths of Hawaii but also because it be-
longs to practically all the tropical islands of the
Pacific Ocean. In Tahiti the legends said that the
sun rushed across the sky very rapidly. The days
were too short for fruits to ripen or for work to be
finished. In Samoa the "mats" made by Sina had no
time to dry. The ancestors of the Polynesians some-
time somewhere must have been in the region of short
days and long nights. Hina found that her incanta-
tions had no influence with the sun. She could not
prevail upon him to go slower and give her more time
for the completion of her task. Then she called on
her powerful son, Maui-ki-i-ki-i, for aid.

Some of the legends of the Island Maui say that
Hina dwelt by the sea coast of that island near the
high hill Kauwiki at the foot of the great mountain
Haleakala, House of the Sun, and that there, facing
the southern skies under the most favorable condi-
tions for making tapa, she found the days too short
for the tapa to dry. At the present time the Hawaiians
point out a long, narrow stone not far from the surf
and almost below the caves in which the great queen
Kaahumanu spent the earliest days of her childhood.

144 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

This stone is said to be the kua or tapa board on
which Hina pounded the bark for her cloth. Other
legends of that same island locate Hina's home on
the northeast coast near Pohakuloa.

The Hilo legends, however, do not deem it neces-
sary that Hina and Maui should have their home
across the wide channel which divides the Island Ha-
waii from the Island Maui in order to wage war suc-
cessfully with the inconsiderate sun. Hina remained
in her home by the Wailuku river, sometimes resting
in her cave under Rainbow Falls, and sometimes work-
ing on the river bank, trusting her powerful son Maui
to make the swiftly-passing lord of day go more
slowly.

Maui possessed many supernatural powers. He could
assume the form of birds or insects. He could call on
the winds to do his will, or he could, if he wished,
traverse miles with a single stride. It is interesting
to note that the Hilo legends differ as to the way in
which Ma-ui the man passed over to Mau-i the island.
One legend says that he crossed the channel, miles wide,
with a single step. Another says that he launched his
canoe and with a breath the god of the winds placed
him on the opposite coast, while another story says
that Maui assumed the form of a white chicken, which
flew over the waters to Haleakala. Here he took ropes
made from the fibre of trees and vines and lassoed the
sun while it climbed the side of the mountain and

HINA OF HILO. 145

entered the great crater which hollows out the sum-
mit. The sun came through a large gap in the east-
ern side of the crater, rushing along as rapidly as
possible. Then Maui threw his lassos one after the
other over the sun's legs (the rays of light), holding
him fast and breaking off some of them. With a
magic club Maui struck the face of the sun again and
again. At last, wounded and weary, and also limp-
ing on its broken legs, the sun promised Maui to go
slowly forevermore.

"La" among the Polynesians, like the word "Ra"
among the Egyptians, means "sun" or "day" or "sun-
god" — and the mountain where the son of Hina won
his victory over the monster of the heavens has long
borne the name Hale-a-ka-la, or House of the Sun.

Hina of Hilo soon realised the wonderful deed which
Maui had done. She spread out her fine tapas with
songs of joy and cheerily performed the task which
filled the hours of the day. The comfort of sunshine
and cooling winds came with great power into Hina's
life, bringing to her renewed joy and beauty.

XIII.
HINA AND THE WAILUKU RIVER.

are two rivers of rushing, tumbling rapids
and waterfalls in the Hawaiian Islands, both
bearing the name of Wailuku. One is on the
Island of Maui, flowing out of a deep gorge in the
side of the extinct volcano lao. Yosemite-like precipices
surround this majestically- walled crater. The name
lao means ' ' asking for clouds. ' ' The head of the crater-
valley is almost always covered with great masses of
heavy rain clouds. Out of the crater the massed waters
rush in a swift-flowing stream of only four or five miles,
emptying into Kahului harbor. The other Wailuku
river is on the Island of Hawaii. The snows melt on
the summits of the two great mountains, Mauna Kea
and Mauna Loa. The water seeps through the porous
lava from the eastern slope of Mauna Loa and the
southern slope of Mauna Kea, meeting where the lava
flows of centuries from each mountain have piled up
against each other. Through the fragments of these

Rainbow Falls (Hina's Home).

HINA AND THE WAILUKU RIVER. 147

volcanic battles the waters creep down the mountain
side toward the sea.

At one place, a number of miles above the city of
Hilo, the waters were heard gurgling and splashing
far below the surface. Water was needed for the
sugar plantations, which modern energy has estab-
lished all along the eastern coast of the large island.
A tunnel was cut into the lava, the underground
stream was tapped — and an abundant supply of water
secured and sluiced down to the large plantations
below. The head waters of the "Wailuku river gath-
ered from the melting snow of the mountains found
these channels, which centred at last in the bed of
a very ancient and very interesting lava flow. Some-
times breaking forth in a large, turbulent flood, the
stream forces its way over and around the huge blocks
of lava which mark the course of the eruption of long
ago. Sometimes it courses in a tunnel left by the
flowing lava and comes up from below in a series of
boiling pools. Then again it falls in majestic sheets
over high walls of worn precipices. Several large
falls and some very picturesque smaller cascades in-
terspersed with rapids and natural bridges give to.
this river a beauty peculiarly its own. The most
weird of all the rough places through which the Wai-
luku river flows is that known as the basin of Rain-
bow Falls near Hilo. Here Hina, the moon goddess
of the Polynesians, lived in a great open cave, over

148 MAUI— A DEMI-GOK.

which the falls hung their misty, rainbow-tinted veil.
Her son Maui, the mighty demi-god of Polynesia, sup-
posed by some writers to be the sun-god of the Poly-
nesians, had extensive lands along the northern bank
of the river. Here among his cultivated fields he had
his home, from which he went forth to accomplish
the wonders attributed to him in the legends of the
Hawaiians.

Below the cave in which Hina dwelt the river fought
its way through a narrow gorge and then, in a series
of many small falls, descended to the little bay, where
its waters mingled with the surf of the salt sea. Far
above the cave, in the bed of the river, dwelt Kuna.
The district through which that portion of the river
runs bears to this day the name "Wai-kuna" or
"Kuna's river." When the writer was talking with
the natives concerning this part of the old legend, they
said "Kuna is not a Hawaiian word. It means some-
thing like a snake or a dragon, something we do not
have in these islands." This, they thought, made the
connection with the Hina legend valueless until they
were shown that Tuna (or kuna) was the New Zealand
name of a reptile which attacked Hina and struck her
with his tail like a crocodile, for which Maui killed him.
When this was understood, the Hawaiians were greatly
interested to give the remainder of this legend and
compare it with the New Zealand story. In New
Zealand there are several statements concerning Tuna's

HINA AND THE WAILUKU RIVER. 149

dwelling place. He is sometimes represented as com-
ing from a pool to attack Hina and sometimes from
a distant stream, and sometimes from the river by
which Hina dwelt. The Hawaiians told of the annoy-
ances which Hina endured from Kuna while he lived
above her home in the Wailuku. He would stop up
the river and fill it with dirt as when the freshets
brought down the debris of the storms from the moun-
tain sides. He would throw logs and rolling stones
into the stream that they might be carried over the
falls and drive Hina from her cave. He had sought
Hina in many ways and had been repulsed again and
again until at last hatred took the place of all more
kindly feelings and he determined to destroy the divine
chiefess.

Hina was frequently left with but little protection,
and yet from her home in the cave feared nothing that
Kuna could do. Precipices guarded the cave on either
side, and any approach of an enemy through the fall-
ing water could be easily thwarted. So her chants
rang out through the river valley even while floods
swirled around her, and Kuna's missiles were falling
over the rocky bed of the stream toward her. Kuna
became very angry and, uttering great curses and
calling upon all his magic forces to aid him, caught a
great stone and at night hurled it into the gorge of
the river below Hina's home, filling the river bed from
bank to bank. "Ah, Hina! Now is the danger, for

150 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

the river rises. The water cannot flow away. Awake!
Awake!"

Hina is not aware of this evil which is so near. The
water rises and rises, higher and higher. "Auwe!
Auwe ! Alas, alas, Hina must perish ! ' ' The water
entered the opening of the cave and began to creep
along the floor. Hina cannot fly, except into the very
arms of her great enemy, who is waiting to destroy her.
Then Hina called for Maui. Again and again her voice
went out from the cave. It pierced through the storms
and the clouds which attended Kuna's attack upon her.
It swept along the side of the great mountain. It
crossed the channel between the islands of Hawaii and
Maui. Its anguish smote the side of the great moun-
tain Haleakala, where Maui had been throwing his
lassoes around the sun and compelling him to go more
slowly. When Maui heard Hina's cry for help echoing
from cliff to cliff and through the ravines, he leaped at
once to rush to her assistance.

Some say that Hina, the goddess, had a cloud ser-
vant, the "ao-opua," the "warning cloud," which rose
swiftly above the falls when Hina cried for aid and
then, assuming a peculiar shape, stood high above the
hills that Maui might see it. Down the mountain he
leaped to his magic canoe. Pushing it into the sea
with two mighty strokes of his paddle he crossed the
sea to the mouth of the "Wailuku river. Here even to
the present day lies a long double rock, surrounded

"t&Nfc

Wailuku River (the Home of Kuna).

HINA AND THE WAILUKU RIVER. 151

by the waters of the bay, which the natives call Ka
waa o Maui, "The canoe of Maui." It represents to
Hawaiian thought the magic canoe with which Maui
always sailed over the ocean more swiftly than any
winds could carry him. Leaving his canoe, Maui seized
the magic club with which he had conquered the sun
after lassoing him, and rushed along the dry bed of
the river to the place of danger. Swinging the club
swiftly around his head, he struck the dam holding back
the water of the rapidly-rising river.

"Ah! Nothing can withstand the magic club. The
bank around one end of the dam gives way. The im-
prisoned waters leap into the new channel. Safe is Hina
the goddess."

Kuna heard the crash of the club against the stones
of the river bank and fled up the river to his home in
the hidden caves by the pools in the river bed. Maui
rushed up the river to punish Kuna-mo-o for the trouble
he had caused Hina. When he came to the place where
the dragon was hidden under deep waters, he took his
magic spear and thrust it through the dirt and lava
rocks along one side of the river, making a long hole,
through which the waters rushed, revealing Kuna-mo-o 's
hiding place. This place of the spear thrust is known
among the Hawaiians as Ka puka a Maui, "the door
made by Maui." It is also known as "The natural
bridge of the Wailuku river."

Kuna-mo-o fled to his different hiding places, but

152 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

Maui broke up the river bed and drove the dragon
out from every one, following him from place to place
as he fled down the river. Apparently this is a legend-
ary account of earthquakes. At last Kuna-mo-o found
what seemed to be a safe hiding place in a series of deep
pools, but Maui poured a lava flow into the river. He
threw red-hot burning stones into the water until the
pools were boiling and the steam was rising in clouds.
Kuna uttered incantation after incantation, but the
water scalded and burned him. Dragon as he was, his
hard, tough skin was of no avail. The pain was becom-
ing unbearable. With cries to his gods he leaped from
the pools and fled down the river. The waters of the
pools are no longer scalding, but they have never lost
the tumbling, tossing, foaming, boiling swirl which Maui
gave to them when he threw into them the red-hot stones
with which he hoped to destroy Kuna, and they are
known to-day as "The Boiling Pots."

Some versions of the legend say that Maui poured
boiling water in the river and sent it in swift pursuit
of Kuna, driving him from point to point and scalding
his life out of him. Others say that Maui chased the
dragon, striking him again and again with his conse-
crated weapons, following Kuna down from falls to
falls until he came to the place where Hina dwelt.
Then, feeling that there was little use in flight, Kuna
battled with Maui. His struggles were of no avail.

HINA AND THE WAILUKU RIVER. 153

He was forced over the falls into the stream below.
Hina and her women encouraged Maui by their
chants and strengthened him by the most powerful
incantations with which they were acquainted. Great
was their joy when they beheld Kuna's ponderous
body hurled over the falls. Eagerly they watched the
dragon as the swift waters swept him against the dam
with which he had hoped to destroy Hina; and when
the whirling waves caught him and dashed him
through the new channel made by Maui's magic club,
they rejoiced and sang the praise of the mighty war-
rior who had saved them. Maui had rushed along the
bank of the river with tremendous strides overtaking
the dragon as he was rolled over and over among the
small waterfalls near the mouth of the river. Here
Maui again attacked Kuna, at last beating the life out
of his body. "Moo-Kuna" was the name given by
the Hawaiians to the dragon. "Moo" means anything
in lizard shape, but Kuna was unlike any lizard known
in the Hawaiian Islands. Moo Kuna is the name some-
times given to a long black stone lying like an island
in the waters between the small falls of the river. As
one who calls attention to this legendary black stone
says: "As if he were not dead enough already, every
big freshet in the stream beats him and pounds him
and drowns him over and over as he would have
drowned Hina." A New Zealand legend relates a con-
flict of incantations, somewhat like the filling in of the

154 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

Wailuku river by Kuna, and the cleaving of a new
channel by Maui with the different use of means. In
New Zealand the river is closed by the use of powerful
incantations and charms and re-opened by the use of
those more powerful.

In the Hervey Islands, Tuna, the god of eels, loved
Ina (Hina) and finally died for her, giving his head
to be buried. From this head sprang two cocoanut
trees, bearing fruit marked with Tuna's eyes and
mouth.

In Samoa the battle was between an owl and a serpent.
The owl conquered by calling in the aid of a
friend.

This story of Hina apparently goes far back in the
traditions of Polynesians, even to their ancient home
in Hawaiki, from which it was taken by one branch
of the family to New Zealand and by another to the
Hawaiian Islands and other groups in the Pacific Ocean.
The dragon may even be a remembrance of the days
when the Polynesians were supposed to dwell by the
banks of the River Ganges in India, when crocodiles
were dangerous enemies and heroes saved families from
their destructive depredations.

XIV.
GHOSTS OF THE HILO HILLS.

legends about Hina and her famous son Maui
and her less widely known daughters are com-
mon property among the natives of the beau-
tiful little city of Hilo. One of these legends of more
than ordinary interest finds its location in the three
small hills back of Hilo toward the mountains.

These hills are small craters connected with some
ancient lava flow of unusual violence. The eruption
must have started far up on the slopes of Mauna Loa.
As it sped down toward the sea it met some obstruc-
tion which, although overwhelmed, checked the flow
and caused a great mass of cinders and ashes to be
thrown out until a large hill with a hollow crater was
built up, covering many acres of ground.

Soon the lava found another vent and then another
obstruction and a second and then a third hill were
formed nearer the sea. These hills or extinct craters
bear the names Halai, Opeapea and Puu Honu. They

156 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

are not far from the Wailuku river, famous for its
picturesque waterfalls and also for the legends which
are told along its banks. Here Maui had his lands
overlooking the steep bluffs. Here in a cave under
the Rainbow Falls was the home of Hina, the mother
of Maui, according to the Hawaiian stories. Other
parts of the Pacific sometimes make Hina Maui's wife,
and sometimes a goddess from whom he descended.
In the South Sea legends Hina was thought to have
married the moon. Her home was in the skies, where
she wove beautiful tapa cloths (the clouds), which were
bright and glistening, so that when she rolled them up
flashes of light (cloud lightning) could be seen on the
earth. She laid heavy stones on the corners of these
tapas, but sometimes the stones rolled off and made
the thunder. Hina of the Rainbow Falls was a famous
tapa maker whose tapa was the cause of Maui's conflict
with the sun.

Hina had several daughters, four of whose names
are given: Hina Ke Ahi, Hina Ke Kai, Hina Mahuia,
and Hina Kuluua. Each name marked the peculiar
"mana" or divine gift which Hina, the mother, had
bestowed upon her daughters.

Hina Ke Ahi meant the Hina who had control of
fire. This name is sometimes given to Hina the mother.
Hina Ke Kai was the daughter who had power
over the sea. She was said to have been in a
canoe with her brother Maui when he fished up Co-

GHOSTS OF THE HILO HILLS. 157

coanut Island, his line breaking before he could pull
it up to the mainland and make it fast. Hina Kuluua
was the mistress over the forces of rain. The winds
and the storms were supposed to obey her will. Hina
Mahuia is peculiarly a name connected with the legends
of the other island groups of the Pacific. Mahuia or
Mafuie was a god or goddess of fire all through Poly-
nesia.

The legend of the Hilo hills pertains especially to
Hina Ke Ahi and Hina Kuluua. Hina the mother
gave the hill Halai to Hina Ke Ahi and the hill Puu
Honu to Hina Kuluua for their families and depen-
dents.

The hills were of rich soil and there was much rain.
Therefore, for a long time, the two daughters had
plenty of food for themselves and their people, but
at last the days were like fire and the sky had no rain
in it. The taro planted on the hillsides died. The
bananas and sugar cane and sweet potatoes withered
and the fruit on the trees was blasted. The people
were faint because of hunger, and the shadow of death
was over the land. Hina Ke Ahi pitied her suffering
friends and determined to provide food for them.
Slowly her people labored at her command. Over they
went to the banks of the river course, which was only
the bed of an ancient lava stream, over which no water
was flowing ; the famished laborers toiled, gathering and
carrying back whatever wood they could find, then up

158 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

the mountain side to the great koa and ohia forests,
gathering their burdens of fuel according to the wishes
of their chiefess.

Their sorcerers planted charms along the way and
uttered incantations to ward off the danger of failure.
The priests offered sacrifices and prayers for the safe
and successful return of the burden-bearers. After
many days the great quantity of wood desired by the
goddess was piled up by the side of the Halai Hill.

Then came the days of digging out the hill and mak-
ing a great imu or cooking oven and preparing it with
stones and wood. Large quantities of wood were thrown
into the place. Stones best fitted for retaining heat
were gathered and the fires kindled. When the stones
were hot, Hina Ke Ahi directed the people to arrange
the imu in its proper order for cooking the materials
for a great feast. A place was made for sweet potatoes,
another for taro, another for pigs and another for dogs.
All the form of preparing the food for cooking was
passed through, but no real food was laid on the stones.
Then Hina told them to make a place in the imu for
a human sacrifice. Probably out of every imu of the
long ago a small part of the food was offered to the gods,
and there may have been a special place in the imu
for that part of the food to be cooked. At any rate
Hina had this oven so built that the people understood
that a remarkable sacrifice would be offered in it to the

GHOSTS OF THE HILO HILLS. 159

gods, who for some reason had sent the famine upon
the people.

Human sacrifices were frequently offered by the
Hawaiians even after the days of the coming of Captain
Cook. A dead body was supposed to be acceptable
to the gods when a chief's house was built, when a
chief's canoe was to be made or when temple walls
were to be erected or victories celebrated. The bodies
of the people belonged to the will of the chief. There-
fore it was in quiet despair that the workmen obeyed
Hina Ke Ahi and prepared the place for sacrifice. It
might mean their own holocaust as an offering to the
gods. At last Hina Ke Ahi bade the laborers cease
their work and stand by the side of the oven ready
to cover it with the dirt which had been thrown out
and piled up by the side. The people stood by, not
knowing upon whom the blow might fall.

But Hina Ke Ahi was "Hina the kind," and although
she stood before them robed in royal majesty and power,
still her face was full of pity and love. Her voice melted
the hearts of her retainers as she bade them carefully
follow her directions.

"0 my people. Where are you? Will you obey and
do as I command? This imu is my imu. I shall lie
down on its bed of burning stones. I shall sleep under
its cover. But deeply cover me or I may perish.
Quickly throw the dirt over my body. Fear not the

160 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

fire. Watch for three days. A woman will stand by
the imu. Obey her will."

Hina Ke Ahi was very beautiful, and her eyes flashed
light like fire as she stepped into the great pit and lay
down on the burning stones. A great smoke arose
and gathered over the imu. The men toiled rapidly,
placing the imu mats over their chiefess and throwing
the dirt back into the oven until it was all thoroughly
covered and the smoke was quenched.

Then they waited for the strange, mysterious thing
which must follow the sacrifice of this divine chiefess.

Halai hill trembled and earthquakes shook the land
round about. The great heat of the fire in the imu
withered the little life which was still left from the
famine. Meanwhile Hina Ke Ahi was carrying out
her plan for securing aid for her people. She could
not be injured by the heat for she was a goddess of
fire. The waves of heat raged around her as she sank
down through the stones of the imu into the under-
ground paths which belonged to the spirit world. The
legend says that Hina made her appearance in the form
of a gushing stream of water which would always
supply the want of her adherents. The second day
passed. Hina was still journeying underground, but
this time she came to the surface as a pool named Moe
Waa (canoe sleep) much nearer the sea. The third
day came and Hina caused a great spring of sweet
water to burst forth from the sea shore in the very

GHOSTS OF THE HILO HILLS. 181

path of the ocean surf. This received the name Auau-
wai. Here Hina washed away all traces of her journey
through the depths. This was the last of the series
of earthquakes and the appearance of new water
springs. The people waited, feeling that some more
wonderful event must follow the remarkable experiences
of the three days. Soon a woman stood by the imu,
who commanded the laborers to dig away the dirt and
remove the mats. When this was done, the hungry
people found a very great abundance of food, enough
to supply their want until the food plants should have
time to ripen and the days of the famine should be
over.

The joy of the people was great when they knew
that their chiefess had escaped death and would still
dwell among them in comfort. Many were the songs
sung and stories told about the great famine and the
success of the goddess of fire.

The second sister, Hina Kuluua, the goddess of rain,
was always very jealous of her beautiful sister Hina
Ke Ahi, and many times sent rain to put out fires which
her sister tried to kindle. Hina Ke Ahi could not stand
the rain and so fled with her people to a home by the
seaside.

Hina Kuluua (or Hina Kuliua as she was some-
times known among the Hawaiians) could control rain
and storms, but for some reason failed to provide a
food supply for her people, and the famine wrought

162 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

havoc among them. She thought of the stories told
and songs sung about her sister and wished for the
same honor for herself. She commanded her people
to make a great imu for her in the hill Puu Honu.
She knew that a strange power belonged to her and
yet, blinded by jealousy, forgot that rain and fire could
not work together. She planned to furnish a great
supply of food for her people in the same way in which
her sister had worked.

The oven was dug. Stones and wood were collected
and the same ghostly array of potatoes, taro, pig and
dog prepared as had been done before by her sister.

The kahunas or priests knew that Hina Kuluua was
going out of her province in trying to do as her sister
had done, but there was no use in attempting to change
her plans. Jealousy is self-willed and obstinate and
no amount of reasoning from her dependents could
have any influence over her.

The ordinary incantations were observed, and Hina
Kuluua gave the same directions as those her sister
had given. The imu was to be well heated. The make-
believe food was to be put in and a place left for her
body. It was the goddess of rain making ready to lie
down on a bed prepared for the goddess of fire. When
all was ready, she lay down on the heated stones and
the oven mats were thrown over her and the ghostly
provisions. Then the covering of dirt was thrown back
upon the mats and heated stones, filling the pit which

On Lava Beds.

GHOSTS OF THE HILo HILLS. 163

had been dug. The goddess of rain was left to prepare
a feast for her people as the goddess of fire had done
for her followers.

Some of the legends have introduced the demi-god
Maui into this story. The natives say that Maui came
to "burn" or "cook the rain" and that he made the
oven very hot, but that the goddess of rain escaped
and hung over the hill in the form of a cloud. At least
this is what the people saw — not a cloud of smoke over
the imu, but a rain cloud. They waited and watched
for such evidences of underground labor as attended
the passage of Hina Ke Ahi through the earth from
the hill to the sea, but the only strange appearance
was the dark rain cloud. They waited three days and
looked for their chiefess to come in the form of a woman.
They waited another day and still another and no signs
or wonders were manifest. Meanwhile Maui, changing
himself into a white bird, flew up into the sky to catch
the ghost of the goddess of rain which had escaped from
the burning oven. Having caught this spirit, he rolled
it in some kapa cloth which he kept for food to be placed
in an oven and carried it to a place in the forest on
the mountain side where again the attempt was made
to "burn the rain," but a great drop escaped and
sped upward into the sky. Again Maui caught the
ghost of the goddess and carried it to a pali or precipice
below the great volcano Kilauea, where he again tried
to destroy it in the heat of a great lava oven, but this

164 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

time the spirit escaped and found a safe refuge among
kukui trees on the mountain side, from which she some-
times rises in clouds which the natives say are the sure
sign of rain.

"Whether this Maui legend has any real connection
with the two Hinas and the famine we do not surely
know. The legend ordinarily told among the Ha-
waiians says that after five days had passed the re-
tainers decided on their own responsibility to open
the imu. No woman had appeared to give them direc-
tions. Nothing but a mysterious rain cloud over the
hill. In doubt and fear, the dirt was thrown off and
the mats removed. Nothing was found but the ashes
of Hina Kuluua. There was no food for her followers
and the goddess had lost all power of appearing as a
chief ess. Her bitter and thoughtless jealousy brought
destruction upon herself and her people. The ghosts
of Hina Ke Ahi and Hina Kuluua sometimes draw
near to the old hills in the form of the fire of flowing
lava or clouds of rain while the old men and women
tell the story of the Hinas, the sisters of Maui, who
were laid upon the burning stones of the imus of a
famine.

XV.
HINA, THE WOMAN IN THE MOON.

Wailuku river has by its banks far up the
mountain side some of the most ancient of the
various interesting picture rocks of the Ha-
waiian Islands. The origin of the Hawaiian picture
writing is a problem still unsolved, but the picture
rocks of the Wailuku river are called "na kii o Maui,"
"the Maui pictures." Their antiquity is beyond ques-
tion.

The most prominent figure cut in these rocks is that
of the crescent moon. The Hawaiian legends do not
attempt any direct explanation of the meaning of this
picture writing. The traditions of the Polynesians both
concerning Hina and Maui look to Hina as the moon
goddess of their ancestors, and in some measure the
Hawaiian stories confirm the traditions of the other
island groups of the Pacific.

Fornander, in his history of the Polynesian race,
gives the Hawaiian story of Hina's ascent to the

166 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

moon, but applies it to a Hina the wife of a chief
called Aikanaka rather than to the Hina of Hilo, the
wife of Akalana, the father of Maui. However, For-
nander evidently found some difficulty in determining
the status of the one to whom he refers the legend,
for he calls her "the mysterious wife of Aikanaka."
In some of the Hawaiian legends Hina, the mother
of Maui, lived on the southeast coast of the Island
Maui at the foot of a hill famous in Hawaiian story
as Kauiki. Fornander says that this "mysterious
wife" of Aikanaka bore her children Puna and Huna,
the latter a noted sea-rover among the Polynesians,
at the foot of this hill Kauiki. It can very easily be
supposed that a legend of the Hina connected with
the derni-god Maui might be given during the course
of centuries to the other Hina, the mother of Huna.
The application of the legend would make no differ-
ence to anyone were it not for the fact that the story
of Hina and her ascent to the moon has been handed
down in different forms among the traditions of
Samoa, New Zealand, Tonga, Hervey Islands, Fate
Islands, Nauru and other Pacific island groups. The
Polynesian name of the moon, Mahina or Masina, is
derived from Hina, the goddess mother of Maui. It
is even possible to trace the name back to "Sin," the
moon god of the Assyrians.

The moon goddess of Ponape was Ina-maram. (Ha-
waiian Hina-malamalama), "Hina giving light."

HINA, THE WOMAN IN THE MOON. 167

In the Paumotan Islands an eclipse of the sun is
called Higa-higa-hana (Hina-hina-hana), "The act
(hana) of Hina — the moon."

In New Zealand moonless nights were called "Dark
Hina."

In Tahiti it is said there was war among the gods.
They cursed the stars. Hina saved them, although they
lost a little light. Then they cursed the sea, but Hina
preserved the tides. They cursed the rivers, but Hina
saved the springs — the moving waters inland, like the
tides in the ocean.

The Hawaiians say that Hina and her maidens
pounded out the softest, finest kapa cloth on the long,
thick kapa board at the foot of Kauiki. Incessantly
the restless sea dashed its spray over the picturesque
groups of splintered lava rocks which form the Kauiki
headland. Here above the reach of the surf still lies
the long, black stone into which the legends say Hina's
kapa board was changed. Here Hina took the leaves
of the hala tree and, after the manner of the Hawaiian
women of the ages past, braided mats for the household
to sleep upon, and from the nuts of the kukui trees
fashioned the torches which were burned around the
homes of those of high chief rank.

At last she became weary of her work among mor-
tals. Her family had become more and more trouble-
some. It was said that her sons were unruly and her
husband lazy and shiftless. She looked into the heavens

108 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

and determined to flee up the pathway of her rainbow
through the clouds.

The Sun was very bright and Hina said, "I will go
to the Sun." So she left her home very early in the
morning and climbed up, higher, higher, until the heat
of the rays of the sun beat strongly upon her and weak-
ened her so that she could scarcely crawl along her
beautiful path. Up a little higher and the clouds no
longer gave her even the least shadow. The heat from
the sun was so great that she began to feel the fire
shriveling and torturing her. Quickly she slipped
down into the storms around her rainbow and then
back to earth. As the day passed her strength came
back, and when the full moon rose through the shadows
of the night she said, "I will climb to the moon and
there find rest."

But when Hina began to go upward her husband
saw her and called to her: "Do not go into the
heavens." She answered him: "My mind is fixed; I
will go to my new husband, the moon." And she
climbed up higher and higher. Her husband ran to-
ward her. She was almost out of reach, but he leaped
and caught her foot. This did not deter Hina from
her purpose. She shook off her husband, but as he fell
he broke her leg so that the lower part came off in his
hands. Hina went up through the stars, crying out
the strongest incantations she could use. The powers
of the night aided her. The mysterious hands of dark-

HINA, THE WOMAN IN THE MOON. 169

ness lifted her, until she stood at the door of the moon.
She had packed her calabash with her most priceless
possessions and had carried it with her even when
injured by her cruel husband. With her calabash she
limped into the moon and found her abiding home.
When the moon is full, the Hawaiians of the long ago,
aye and even to-day, look into the quiet silvery light
and see the goddess in her celestial home, her calabash
by her side.

The natives call her now Lono-moku, "the crippled
Lono." From this watch tower in the heavens she
pointed out to Kahai, one of her descendants, the way
to rise up into the skies. The ancient chant thus de-
scribes his ascent :

"The rainbow is the path of Kahai.
Kahai rose. Kahai bestirred himself.
Kahai passed on the floating cloud of Kane.
Perplexed were the eyes of Alihi.
Kahai passed on on the glancing light.
The glancing light on men and canoea.
Above was Hanaiakamalama. " (Hina).

Thus under the care of his ancestress Hina, Kahai,
the great sea-rover, made his ascent in quest of adven-
tures among the immortals.

In the Tongan Islands the legends say that Hina
remains in the moon watching over the "fire- walkers"
as their great protecting goddess.

170 MAUI— A DEMI-GOD.

The Hervey Island traditions say that the Moon
(Mararaa) had often seen Hina and admired her, and
at last had come down and caught her up to live with
himself. The moonlight in its glory is called Inamotea,
"the brightness of Ina."

The story as told on Atiu Island (one of the So-
ciety group) is that Hina took her human husband
with her to the moon, where they dwelt happily for a
time, but as he grew old she prepared a rainbow, down
which he descended to the earth to die, leaving Hina
forevermore as "the woman in the moon." The Savage
Islanders worshipped the spirits of their ancestors, say-
ing that many of them went up to the land of Sina,
the always bright land in the skies. To the natives
of Niue Island, Hina has been the goddess ruling over
all tapa making. They say that her home is "Motu a
Hina," "the island of Hina," the home of the dead
in the skies.

The Samoans said that the Moon received Hina and
a child, and also her tapa board and mallet and ma-
terial for the manufacture of tapa cloth. Therefore,
when the moon is shining in full splendor, they shade
their eyes and look for the goddess and the tools with
which she fashions the tapa clouds in the heavens.

The New Zealand legend says that the woman went
after water in the night. As she passed down the
path to the spring the bright light of the full moon
made the way easy for her quick footsteps, but when

MAUI— A DEMI-GOD. 171

she had filled her calabash and started homeward,
suddenly the bright light was hidden by a passing
cloud and she stumbled against a stone in the path
and fell to the ground, spilling the water she was car-
rying. Then she became very angry and cursed the
moon heartily. Then the moon became angry and
swiftly swept down upon her from the skies, grasp-
ing her and lifting her up. In her terrible fight she
caught a small tree with one hand and her calabash
with the other. But oh! the strong moon pulled her
up with the tree and the calabash and there in the
full moon they can all be traced when the nights are
clear.

Pleasant or Nauru Island, in which a missionary
from Central Union Church, Honolulu, is laboring,
tells the story of Gigu, a beautiful young woman, who
has many of the experiences of Hina. She opened the
eyes of the Mother of the Moon as Hina, in some of
the Polynesian legends, is represented to have opened
the eyes of one of the great goddesses, and in reward
is married to Maraman, the Moon, with whom she
lives ever after, and in whose embrace she can always
be seen when the moon is full. Gigu is Hina under
another and more guttural form of speech. Maraman
is the same as Malama, one of the Polynesian names
for the moon.

INDEX

Page.

Akea or Atea. see Wakea 41

Akalana, or Ataranga 4, 166

Alae birds 12, 18, 27, 62, 65, 120, 123

Alae-Huapi 120

Alae-nui-a-Hina 123

Ao-tea-roa 23, 93, 106, 108, 137

Aumakuas 26

Ava-iki, or Hawa-i-ki 5, 37, 41, 52, 72, 137

Awa 8

Axe, Stone 93, 94

Bailing dish 123

Bananas 45, 64

Banyan 56, 71

Barbs, spears 79, 101

Birds 85, 110, 112, 135, 144

Bird-machine 125

Birds, painted 85, 112

Black rock 32, 48

Boiling pots 100, 152

Bones, fish hooks 15, 83

Brittany 57

Bua-Taran-ga 5

Cain and Abel 89

Calabash 19, 31, 84, 115

Cannibalism 91, 93

Canoe, Haul's 28, 118, 150

Cats-cradle 86

Cloud, Maui's-ao-opua 150

Page.

Coco-nut Island 19, 23

Cook, Captain 7

Cooking the rain 163

Coral 29

Creation 4, 80, 86

Crocodile 148

Death 25, 38, 67, 82, 137, 170

Death chant 138

Dog 80, 102

Dragon 97, 148, 153

Earth twisted 12, 15

Eclipse ' 42, 158

Eel 7, 33, 83, 94, 130

Eel baskets 79, 102

Eight-eyed 83, 124

Ellis, William 84

Egypt 44-

Evolution 85, 103, 109, 132

Fairies 113

Fire-finding —

Australia 59

Bowditch Islands 76

Chatham Islands 75

De Peysters Islands 59

Hawaii 61, 120

Hervey Islands 67, 70

Indians 57

New Zealand 67, 74, 88

Peruvians 59

Samoa 67, 70

Page.

Savage Islands 67, 72

Society Islands 66, 72

Tartary 59

Tokelau Island 67

First man 89

Fishing up islands —

Hawaii 14, 18, 26

Hervey Islands 26

New Hebrides 25

New Zealand 19, 88

Samoa 24

Tonga 24, 28

Fish hooks 12, 15, 20, 26, 81, 118

Fish nets 81

Flood 25

Flying machine 125

Forbes, Rev. A. 0 42

Fornander, A 83

Ganges 154

Gilbert Islands 34, 60

Gill, W. W 36

Grey, Sir George 7, 20, 23, 49, 101, 110

Green stone 110, 134

Guardian of under-world 4, 5, 17, 70

Hades 129

Halai hills 64, 155

Hale-a-ka-la 7, 13, 32, 43, 62, 143

Hale-a-o-a 76

Hau spirit Preface

Hau tree 76

Haumia-Tiki-Tiki . 34

Page.

Hawa-iki 5, 35, 37, 137, 154

Hawaii-loa 29

Hawke's bay 28

Hele-a-ka-la 122

Hercules 53, 112

Hervey Islands 4, 5, 10

Hide-and-seek 10

Hilo 7, 19, 26, 64, 129, 147, 155

Hina 5, 7, 10, 12, 18, 45, 61, 64, 121, 139

Hina-a-ke-ahi 3, 27, 157

Hina-a-ke-ka 123

Hina-a-te-lepo 91

Hina-Kulu-ua 157, 161

Hina-uri 101

Hina-nui-te-po 23, 123, 133

Hina's daughters 156

Horizon or heaven 107

Human sacrifices 159

Hump back 125

Huna 166

lao 43

le-ie, fiber 125

liwi 113

Ika-o-Maui 23

Ili-ahi 66

Immortality, Maui 128

Imu, oven 159

Ina, see Hina 5, 66, 142

India 154

Indians, fire-finding 57

Indians, snaring sun 54

Ira Waru . . 101

Page.

Kaahumanu 143

Ka-alae-huapi 120

Kahai chant 169

Ka-iwi-o-Pele 18

Kalakaua 8

Kalana-Kalanga, see Akalana 3, 4, 60

Kalau-hele-moa 45

Kamapuaa 83

Kanaloa 5, 24, 29, 120

Kane 35, 119, 135

Kane's cave 119

Kapa 11, 13, 42, 62, 116, 119, 122, 141

Kauai 26

Kauiki, or Kauwiki 7, 12, 26, 143, 168

Kaula Island 26

Kipahula 18

Ki-i-ki-i 6, 32, 143

Kite-flying 87, 112, 128

Ko, spade 94

Kohala 28

Koolau 44

Ku 6

Kualii 12

Kuna, see Tuna 7, 99

Ku-olo— Kele 125

Ku-ula, fish god 140

La, or Ra 5, 44

Lahaina 32

Lasso 47, 51, 80, 144

Lifting the sky —

Ellice Islands 33

Page.

Gilbert Islands 34

Hawaii 31

Hervey Islands 38

Manahiki 35

New Zealand 34

Samoa 32

Liliuokalani chants 3, 8, 17, 27, 40

Long Eel 92

Lono 34

Ma-eli-eli hill 120

Magic fish hook 82

Mahui, Mahuika, Mafuia 5, 60, 68, 73, 132

Mahina, or Masina 166

Mamo bird 114

Manahiki Islands 24, 80

Maori 28, 34

Marama, or Mai am a 166, 171

Marshall Islands 60

Maru 89

Mauna Kea 13

Maui Akalana —

Akamai 78, 82

baptized 10, 133

birth 6

bird or insect 9, 10, 20, 24, 71, 114, 144

brothers 3, 6, 14, 22, 24, 78, 107

canoes 28

children 82, 93, 137

creation 4, 80

death 25, 26

M

Page.

Hawaii 130

Hervey Islands 131

New Zealand 137

Samoa 131

eight-eyed 83

footprints 25, 33

god or demi-god 4, 148

home 4, 7, 10, 31, 119

hook 12, 15, 19, 26, 28

of the malo Preface

prophet 84

sister 6

the swift 64, 117, 121

uncles 8

Maui-Mua, or Rupe 106, 125

Maui Hope 124

Maui Waena 3, 124

Mercury 11

Moemoe 48

Mo-o 41, 97, 99

Moon 41, 89, 134

Moon, Hina the goddess 147, 156, 165

Motu, or Mokua Hina 170

Mudhen 120

Muri 48, 50

Nauru Islands 171

New Heavens 107

New Hebrides Islands 25

New Zealand 4, 5, 7, 9

Niu Islands 33

Page.
Oahu legends —

Maui and the two gods 119

How they found fire 120

Maui catching the sun 122

Uniting the islands 123

Maui and Pea-pea 124

Obsidian 109, 134

Ohia trees 80

Olona 81, 114, 117

O-o, spade 94

O-o, bird 114

Paoa 29

Papa 34

Payton 25

Pea-pea, the eight-eyed 124

Pearl Harbor 123

Peruvians 59

Pictographs 165

Pigeon 9

Pimoe 18

Pohakunui 64

Prometheus 57

Puka-a-Maui 151

Pumice stone 38

Puna 166

Puu-o-hulu 119, 123

Ra or La, sun-god 5, 44

Rainbow Falls 8, 26, 99, 147

Rangi 34

Raro Tonga 6, 24

Roko 97

Page.

Kongo 34

Ru 5, 35

Eupe, Maui-mua 106, 125

Samoa 5, 24, 29

Sandalwood 66

Savage Islands

Savaii 29, 129

Scorpion 26

Serpent 33

Sharks 18, 123

Short days

Sina, see Hina 86, 143, 166, 171

Snaring the sun —

Fiji 54

Hawaii 42, 122, 144

Hervey Islands 52

Indians 54

New Zealand 48

Samoa 143

Society Islands 41, 50, 53, 143

Tonga 40

Snow 89

Society Islands 5

Spears 81

Spirits, islands of 129

Stone implements 86, 93, 110

Sun, created 41

Supporter of the Heavens 37

Tabu 102, 126

Tahiti 76, 86

Page.

Talanga or Kalana 5, 68

Tane, see Kane 35

Tangaroa or Kanaloa 6, 24, 25, 34, 66

Taro 121

Tattooing 80, 104, 136

Tawhiri 35

Te-ika-o-Maui 23

Ti leaves 125

I Kii-Kii 6, 25, 32, 34, 60, 68

Tiki-tiki J

Tini-rau 106, 108

Tokelau Island 67

Tonga 28, 40, 89, 129

Tonga-iti 41

Tracey Islands 33

Tu or Ku 35

Tuna or Kuna 91

Fiji 91

Hawaii 99, 148

Hervey Islands 154

New Zealand 92

Samoa 96

Turner . 24

Ulua 12, 18

Under-world 4, 9, 15, 51, 68, 129

Uniting the islands 123

Upolu

Vatea, or Wakea 41

Vatupu Islands 33

Page.

Waianae 65, 119

Waikuna 100, 148

Wailuku 7, 26, 80, 140, 146

Waipahu 125

Waipio 115

Wakea, Vatea, Atea 4, 41

Water of life 134

White, John 87, 96, 101, 132

Wife of Maui 91, 124, 137, 156

Wiliwili tree 44

Winds 86,115

Woman in the Moon . 165

B. R. GOWAN & Co., Printers, 492 Collins Street, Melbourne.

GR Westervelt, William Drake
385 Legends of Maui

H3W4 Australasian ed.
1910

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